Schlotzsky's Bun Run 5K

He's baaaaaaack...we hope. Anyway, after months of moping and rib injury and general malaise, I'm creeping back out on the roads and trails to see about turning myself into a shape that is not round. :-)

Mary Anne's work schedule has caused me to miss a ton of Gazelles workouts, too, so that created different mental stresses. You know how it goes...I'm way slower than I was a few months ago, so I get embarrassed about going to speed workouts, so maybe I don't go to the speed workouts because I'm slower, and so I don't get faster because I don't go to speed workouts because I'm slower. I know the logic is twisted, but our minds do strange things to us from time to time.

At any rate, I did get out yesterday for a super easy 3 miles of jogging before the Stretch-A-Thon with the Gazelles, and my legs didn't explode or anything. So, I did the only logical thing, which was to walk over and sign up for the Bun Run held this morning. I tend to run this race every year, and I like the shirt, so what the heck? Also, I had no expectations of time for the race, and could just run it for fun to get my psyche jump-started.

This morning, after rolling down to park near RunTex, I did some very gentle warmup stuff. I wasn't even in shape (I thought) to join the herd for the usual warmup, so I walked for 20 minutes or so, did some drills, stretched gently, and finally did some very easy jogging. No strides, but I figured I'd be running nice and relaxed, so who needs strides for that?

I eased into the mob about 30 yards back from the start line, but moved up a bit in the crowd when I realized that surely I was faster than most of the folks I saw around me there. The weather was a perfect crisp and clear 48 degrees, and I was fairly serene as the wheelchairs went off, the National Anthem was sung, and Evel blared the starting horn for us. No worries. Just go out and see what happens.

So, I did. I weaved my way through the crowds ahead of me as I crossed the starting line, passing walkers, very slow runners, and those who went out fast and quickly came to a crawl (young runners, mostly). The course has changed this year from the traditional Dog Pound loop, presumably due to the Arts Festival that has taken over Cesar Chavez street this weekend. Thus, we zigged and zagged over to Congress, and did that sneaky climb up Congress to the Capitol. I saw Rich and Banjo right at the one mile marker, and noted a sedate 8:55 for that mile. Okay. Traffic caused some of that, and I felt pretty good, so I eased into the next running gear, and moved on.

Mile 2 featured all of the hills on this course. Up 12th Street, where scads of folks slowed to a walk, up San Jacinto , which had some bumps for us, and then the turn west onto 15th, where the last significant hill came and went. Even in my current (lack of) shape, I was pleased to note that I was passing folks left and right. That's encouraging. We turned south at Lavaca and then tucked into the Capitol grounds for a bit. Mile 2 came and went, and I was happy to see a second mile split of 8:06. It was a harder mile than the first, but I felt about the same, so it was all good.

Except for quick little hill at the Governor's Mansion early on, Mile 3 was mostly downhill and/or flat, so one could expect to pick up a little time here. I continued to roll through the crowds, and I don't remember very many, if any, people passing me during this part of the race. Just sort of relaxing into a higher turnover, I picked it up a bit, and soon enough we were back at the First Street Bridge and the 3 mile marker. This year, the course finished on the bridge, so it was a bit easier to concentrate on the finish line since it was right in front of us from farther back (no corners to negotiate late in the race for a change). I did a modest finishing kick over the bridge, and was pleased to cross the line at a decent pace. Done!

Mile 3 was 7:34, and the 0.11 mile finishing kick was 0:46 for a 6:58/mile pace. Way slower than in years past, but much faster than I had expected. Final time 25:21, or 8:09/mile pace. I've run half marathons faster than that pace, so I'm way off my game, but it was comforting to be able to turn in a respectable race coming off of basically no training.

I hung out afterwards with Frank, Larry, Ava, Alicia and other folks, and in ways that they might not recognize, that simple activity made me feel much better. I forget how much a part of my social network that the Gazelles are. When I drift away from the herd for a while, I miss the human interaction, and that can snowball into all sorts of grumpiness on my part. Perhaps I've learned a lesson...again?

At any rate, as I told Frank, my goals for the next 3 months are to get into shape so that I can begin White Rock marathon training in late July. Shouldn't be a problem, but I have let myself drop way off my former fitness. I'll get back to the Gazelles workouts, albeit at a slightly slower pace than usual, and fight my way back into shape. No other grand pronouncements except to remind myself that running improves most aspects of my life, both mentally and physically, and when I drop off of that, I'm a lesser person for it.

Onward!