Lessons Learned During a Memorial Day 5K

I thought it would be a good idea to try out my racing legs again so I decided to run the Wellaware Run for Kids 5K after work this morning. The website said it was a "challenging course" but I thought to myself it would be fun and maybe I could better my time and break 34 minutes. Through the experience I learned a few things about myself and racing in general....

1. It's a lot harder to race when it's hot!

• The temperature was about 81 degrees with 75% humidity when we started and most of the course was run on pavement with little to no shade.
  

2. Hills suck

• The race director warned us that it was "a very hilly course so be careful and listen to your body" but even that didn't scare me. In the first mile, we had what I thought was a hill - and I ran it with no problem and even ended up with a 10:10 split which put me ahead of my expected pace. Soon after, I realized that the first mile really just had a small incline and that the true hills were ahead. My pace quickly dropped off as it seemed like it was just one hill after another, including one final long climb at about the 2.5 mile mark.
  

3. Take water when it's offered because you may not get a second chance.

• The one aid station was located about halfway through the race as we entered a loop around a little lake. I decided to do my loop first then grab the water on my way up the big hill past the aid station. Unfortunately, by the time I ended my loop - they were out of cups and the poor volunteer just kept apologizing to everyone going by.

4. There's no shame in a quick walk break.

• Even though it was hot and challenging, I really did a good job of keeping my pace manageable. I was determined to run the whole thing and for most of the race that seemed a definite possibility. Unfortunately I was starting to lose it on the last climb at about the 2.75 mile mark, I made it up about halfway then had to walk for about 30 seconds. After that little break, I pushed on through to the end, but later I was beating myself up about walking. In retrospect, I need to realize that I wasn't going to break any records had I not taken that walk break and that there's just no shame in it.
  

5. Sometimes the "official" time is a gift from Santa

• By my watch and the clock at the finish, I was right at 35:08 which is about 20 seconds better than my last 5K. Not as good as I would have liked, but impressive given how difficult the course was compared to my last race. I just checked the "official" results on the website and they have me at 34:11??!!?!? I would love to claim that time but there's no way it's accurate. I guess they decided that for my excellent effort I deserved a one minute gift? I'm not quite sure but I'll stick with my real time.