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A Running Guide for the Overweight Runner

There is a man that runs around my town all of the time carrying himself with no evidence of being tired. You may see him out at the park r...

7.01.2010

Mo to Co 5k Results. Competitive Nature. Olde Glory Days 5k Sat.


MO 2 CO 5k.


I ran in my third official 5k on Sunday. It was the Mo 2 Co 5k, which was supporting a local youth group to travel from Missouri to Colorado to go to NYR (Nationwide Youth Round-up) later this month. A good friend of mine set the 5k up and was running (organizing) and decided to run it the last minute. It was his first 5k to run. He’s decided to train for the Half with me too now.

(If you want to train and interact with other Half trainers – go here to join my Half Marathon Training facebook group.)

Back to the race.

I finished in 31 minutes.

That is my slowest time yet.

I won’t lie – that was really frustrating and upsetting when I finished with that time.

Competitive Nature

That's why it was so hard to take in the results.

I am very competitive when it comes to anything. It’s hard not to be and it’s something that I have to watch and look out for. I’ve always striven to be the best and I think it’s just a factor of my work ethic.

I simply want to be the best at everything.

Let me tell you a little bit more about the race which might give reason why to me getting my slowest time.

Before I tell about it – I want you to know that I accept this time and don’t think that I could have done better at my fitness level right now – so these are not excuses. I just want to tell you about the race.

(Matt, if you are reading – I’m grateful for the 5k and how it has helped me reach my goal of three 5k’s this year…it was a fun time! It was great to see you as well.)


The Obstacle and my Plan to overcome.

The Hills: This race had hills that were crazy long and large. As soon as you completed one hill – there was another one waiting. I have not trained on hills yet and it was quite the eye-opening experience for me. My plan to overcome these obstacles is to train on larger and longer hills. A member at our church lives in a country setting subdivision type of place (?) and is a two mile loop around a lake. It has huge hills. That is my plan.

The Mud and Gravel: After about 200 yards into the race, it turned into a muddy gravel run. I run on paved roads typically and don’t get the opportunity to run on the gravel. The only reason it was muddy was because it poured right before the race. My plan to overcome the mud and gravel is to use my cross trainers and run on a gravel road every so often. We have plenty of them around.

The Silence: As I said, it poured before the race and I was unsure if it was going to rain agtain during the race – so I left the iPod with my wife. Silence. Only the voices in my head were able to keep me going. I have no idea how many times I said “Discipline Pushes Limits”. I overcame the silence during the race by encouraging those that I either passed or ran next too. My plan to overcome this is to make sure I bring the crappy mp3 player along with the iPod.

All in all – I do feel that I did well even with the unfamiliar obstacles. It was a smaller 5k with only about 35 people running/walking. I finished 6th among all people with the time of 31’24”. I think that, by its self, tells about how difficult the race was. I forgot to take the picture with the purple race shirt that I received. That does complete my goal of three 5k’s and go here to see my results for each race that I ran.


On Saturday, July 3rd, I have another 5k. I am hoping to fair better at this race. I’ve ran a similar course to this upcoming one and would like to be sub 30 again. I don’t really have a time goal except for sub 30. I think that if I am running under a 10’ pace…I’m doing okay for myself. Of course, I want to be doing better than that, but I also know how busy and lax I have been with my running b/c of that busyness.

I would love to place in my age bracket again.

Yeah - I’ll go for it.


What are you striving for right now? Be specific - what is your next goal?

9 comments:

Paul and Whitney Rohrbaugh said...

Right now I'm striving to finish C25K. I'm on W8D3 and have already run a 5k. I'm set to race another one July 17. After that my goal is to start training for a 10k. There is a local one in October and I really want to run in it! What an accomplishment that would be for me!

Angela said...

I'm 44, recently lost 48lbs (still have 32 to go). I've made a commitment to run a 5K...but there isn't one coming up until December. Hopefully, I will be able to find one before that. This will be a major milestone for me as I have never even run a mile before. But, I'm ready, I'm determined, and I'm not going to let anything get in my way.

Christine said...

My plan to overcome....
Greater words are rarely spoken.
I love to come here and read.
like I said before, I never worry what I will read here, it just gives me ideas of how to keep my mind focused.
Thanks.

Helen said...

Every race is an animal unto itself, no matter how well you're prepared. I've had 5Ks from 38 minutes to 29. Just depends on the day and the circumstances.

I'm always surprised when folks have a tough time running without music. When I first started racing most races did not allow headphones so I trained myself to run without them. I do use them occasionally now, but because I so often run in the early morning, I want to be hyper aware of what is going on around me - especially if my run is in the dark.

That too is something you could overcome, simply by practicing without them.

Kyle said...

First...great job on your 5K despite your disappointment over your time.

After the C25K podcasts, I haven't run with any music...just me, my heart, my breath, and the sound of feet on pavement. There are times I'd like something to distract my mind from thinking "bad thoughts" about my running.

While I don't have any option for an official half-marathon...it would be great if I could do a Garmin tracked half-marathon before my birthday in August...13.1 when I'm 41. (I'll still be 41 until then!)

Missy said...

You did it! In and of itself, worth celebrating. And you supported the youth. Can't complain about that!!!

Meegan (redstar5) said...

Seth you are a running champ! I still haven't tackled my second 5K let along my third - so good on you! It sounds like it was a challenging race in a number of ways and you got it all done despite them.

I'm working on some new goals at the moment, and you're inspiring me to consider tackling 5K #2 in the next few weeks...

Syl said...

I think that you did great. 31 minutes is nothing to sneeze at but I can understand your frustration, I get like that too and then I remember I need to be grateful that I can run.
My goal is to get to the weight I want to be and that is my focus right now.

Lindsay said...

You did great! I have yet to do a 5k I was out of town for the one I was hoping to do.