Run The Woodlands 5K #120
Run The Woodlands Christmas Day 5K!
This event was the talk of the entire week with family, especially with the cold snap that came through this past week and the possibility of running in snow! [Which, of course, didn't prove to be.] But, more importantly, that Waverly was going to attempt another 5K to get ready for the Houston Press 5K at the marathon.
First of all, many thanks to Don Drewniak, his wife, Dolores, and Tom McDonough for doing the leg work to allow 29 of us to run on Christmas Day! [I ran on four of the last five holidays -- 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I had opted for the 16th annual UH Cougar Classic on the Saturday before Labor Day. If I had known that a bulk of the Striders were running on Labor Day more in advance, I would have done that instead of the Cougar Classic -- which is a glorified fun run. John Moores should be able to donate the money to have the event timed for all participants! I digress....]
Waverly really had a challenge on this 5K and it was actually the slowest of the five -- 44:18 -- that she has done. [And with the holidays, and how I had been feeling, I really didn't do the best job of getting her prepared.] Waverly is just under 5' tall, but is probably about 115 pounds. So she's lumbering some weight along [which makes it a challenge ... I know.] What's really scary, though, is that she wears an 8-8.5 women's shoe.
I try to get her to relax as much as I can as well as trying to get her to pace herself and her breathing. We used that course in The Woodlands to get ready for the Bearkat Bash, which she did in 42:51. But she struggled with either a side stitch or just pain in her stomach early on.
We made the first mile mark in 13:20, which was ahead of the mile she did at the Anadarko Run Thru The Woods (were she kind of struggled a bit). Then after that, I never looked at the watch. My focus was just trying to keep her mind off of the pain enough to allow her to be able to finish it and get the experience over with.
I'm proud of her every time she goes out and does one. And on this one, I let her pay her own $1 and fill out the form that Don requires everyone to do -- just to give her complete ownership of the experience.
Bottom line, though, is that she was happy when it was over!
Fellow Striders, Tim and Karen Bowler were in attendance as well. Last year, Tim ran the last race of the year to log 56 events in 2003 -- one over his age of 55! [This year, I ended up with 61 events. 202.3 of the 410.3 event miles were logged in the last four months of the year.]
On this Saturday, Karen Bowler broke her own existing female age 50-59 course record with a blazing time of 20:58. It was her second best 5K of 2004 behind the fast 20:08 that she posted at the Run With The Saints 5K on November 6. [Her first 5K of the year was 23:20. Wow, what a slice -- over 10% -- for a 50-55, female runner!] Karen has run that event now seven times. All 7 of her times are in the top 9 all-time for females 50-59 (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9).
With my pacing duties for Waverly, I finished last in that series for the eighth time -- the all-time record in the 5-year, 120-race series.
It was the 17th time that I've run in that series. I finished last seven times (in my first 11 races -- the last coming with 58 runners on May 22, 2004 and I finished in 30:27. Two of those 7 times, I even PR'd. Needless to say, those at my place in the spectrum decide to stay at home more often than not!)
This event was the talk of the entire week with family, especially with the cold snap that came through this past week and the possibility of running in snow! [Which, of course, didn't prove to be.] But, more importantly, that Waverly was going to attempt another 5K to get ready for the Houston Press 5K at the marathon.
First of all, many thanks to Don Drewniak, his wife, Dolores, and Tom McDonough for doing the leg work to allow 29 of us to run on Christmas Day! [I ran on four of the last five holidays -- 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I had opted for the 16th annual UH Cougar Classic on the Saturday before Labor Day. If I had known that a bulk of the Striders were running on Labor Day more in advance, I would have done that instead of the Cougar Classic -- which is a glorified fun run. John Moores should be able to donate the money to have the event timed for all participants! I digress....]
Waverly really had a challenge on this 5K and it was actually the slowest of the five -- 44:18 -- that she has done. [And with the holidays, and how I had been feeling, I really didn't do the best job of getting her prepared.] Waverly is just under 5' tall, but is probably about 115 pounds. So she's lumbering some weight along [which makes it a challenge ... I know.] What's really scary, though, is that she wears an 8-8.5 women's shoe.
I try to get her to relax as much as I can as well as trying to get her to pace herself and her breathing. We used that course in The Woodlands to get ready for the Bearkat Bash, which she did in 42:51. But she struggled with either a side stitch or just pain in her stomach early on.
We made the first mile mark in 13:20, which was ahead of the mile she did at the Anadarko Run Thru The Woods (were she kind of struggled a bit). Then after that, I never looked at the watch. My focus was just trying to keep her mind off of the pain enough to allow her to be able to finish it and get the experience over with.
I'm proud of her every time she goes out and does one. And on this one, I let her pay her own $1 and fill out the form that Don requires everyone to do -- just to give her complete ownership of the experience.
Bottom line, though, is that she was happy when it was over!
Fellow Striders, Tim and Karen Bowler were in attendance as well. Last year, Tim ran the last race of the year to log 56 events in 2003 -- one over his age of 55! [This year, I ended up with 61 events. 202.3 of the 410.3 event miles were logged in the last four months of the year.]
On this Saturday, Karen Bowler broke her own existing female age 50-59 course record with a blazing time of 20:58. It was her second best 5K of 2004 behind the fast 20:08 that she posted at the Run With The Saints 5K on November 6. [Her first 5K of the year was 23:20. Wow, what a slice -- over 10% -- for a 50-55, female runner!] Karen has run that event now seven times. All 7 of her times are in the top 9 all-time for females 50-59 (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9).
With my pacing duties for Waverly, I finished last in that series for the eighth time -- the all-time record in the 5-year, 120-race series.
It was the 17th time that I've run in that series. I finished last seven times (in my first 11 races -- the last coming with 58 runners on May 22, 2004 and I finished in 30:27. Two of those 7 times, I even PR'd. Needless to say, those at my place in the spectrum decide to stay at home more often than not!)
posted by WalkSports.com | 10:32 PM
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