5K Race report and injury update

It has been a little while and a few things have happened.

Since my last post I ran a couple of training runs to try to prepare for the Road2Hope 5K race in Hamilton. They were anything spectacular but they felt good. I wasn't properly prepared for running a race but I decided to go and not try to break any record, just pick up my swag and go for a run with 600 people.

Saturday, November 1st, the morning after Halloween, (does chocolate count towards carbo-loading?) I headed out early for the race. I stopped at Starbucks for a nice, hot, bold coffee. I dressed for a cool morning and added layers for before the race. I learned long ago, bring extra running clothes because you never know what the race temps will be. When I arrived I realized the wind was pretty strong and cold off Lake Ontario.

I picked up my bib in one tent, my t-shirt in another tent, and my chip was outside in the wind. Those volunteers looked like they were freezing. I looked through the expo, there were a few interesting booths. One company had some Ultimate Direction water bottles and carriers. They had the model that is one down from what I want. He said he sold a few of the model I want earlier that day. It was probably a good thing, I want to make sure my knee will heal so I can conquer the trail enough to need that bottle.

I talked to a woman about magnet therapy and she was telling me about how years ago magnets helped with her ITB problems. Very interesting woman, she used to be the head of the Around the Bay 30K Road Race. I had been interested in the theory behind magnets for a while, so I kept it in the back of my mind.

Back outside I grabbed a 1/2 cup of Tim Hortons coffee and decided I was going to wear warmer clothes. I was still going to wear shorts, but on top I have my thermal under garment and I put a short sleeve shirt over it. I wore my 50 cent gloves.

The start was fairly narrow and the walkers started right in with the runners. The race people should have told them to start behind the runners, it was quite dicey at the beginning. Even a lot of the runners were pretty slow at the start. I felt like a speedster with the dips and dives weaving amongst everyone. The road widened so there was a little more room to run. I felt GREAT. I had no pain at all, I felt like my fitness level was very high. I ran my first KM in 5:35, this was much faster than I thought was possible with the lack of training. The remaining 4KM were all under 6 minutes, I was impressed with my fitness. I finished in 29:06, I missed my PB by 16 seconds, with very little training. I would have gotten a PB if the start was a little less crowded. Man, did I impress myself.

My finishing medal was given to me by Colin Jenkins, Canadian Olympian. I was honoured. I should his hand, I was proud of his Olympic showing.

I ended up buying an magnetic anklet. I hope there is some truth to the theory. I am hoping between the magnetic therapy and smart training, I will be able to run the Around the Bay race again next year. I also want to run a long trail race this upcoming year.

As far as my knee is concerned, I was out for a short run last night and I felt a twinge. It was the type of sharp pain that told me that it was not the night to keep running.
I will try to get out again this week, I am hoping for Thursday night. I have an 8K on Saturday. It is the last race in the Subaru Niagara running Series. I want to run this, I will go with the same thought as this past weekend, jut go for a run with 400 friends.

I will be taking it easy for a few weeks after that to try to help my knee.

Stay tuned I will bore you while I dwell on this knee issue some more...