Chinatown 5K Race

I just got back from the Chinatown 5K Race this morning. I got there a little late, because a cop pulled me over. Fortunately, I was able to sweet talk my way out of getting a ticket.

I started at the back of the pack at 8:00 a.m. I only did the 5K instead of the 10K, because I had to finish as fast as possible so that I could fulfill my duties at church. I usually get to church when it opens at 7:00 a.m. to set up the sound equipment for the kids worship service. I wish it opened earlier on Sundays, because I have a lot of stuff to do. I have to prepare the kids' bible study, set up the sound equipment, eat some food, wash up, and change my clothes. I usually run or bike 13-15 miles depending on the route I take to church. If I run, I usually leave before 5:00 a.m. If I bike I leave before 6:30 a.m. I go to the 8:00 a.m. service and we have a teacher's meeting at 9:30 a.m. Maybe next year, I'll do the 10K. It starts at 8:30 a.m. though. Maybe, I'll do the 5K and then run the 10K right afterwards. The 5K and the 10K registration fees cost the same.

I was thinking of running to the race, but I thought I would be too tired to post a good time. I was thinking of biking to the race, but I didn't want anyone to steal my bike while I was running. Plus, I usually carry some stuff with me when I bike and I didn't have any place to put my stuff. So, I drove my car to the race. That's when I got pulled over.

There were several hundred people at the race. I couldn't believe how many people there were. I couldn't even run in the beginning because it was way too crowded. When I was finally able to run, I went at a really slow pace, because there were just way too many people blocking my way. The entire street and sidewalks were filled with people. Eventually, the crowds thinned out the further out we went.

I was passing everyone and it felt great. After awhile though my heart started beating really fast. During a race, I push myself at a faster pace than when I usually run during training. The uphill section was tough. After when I reached the turnaround point, it started going downhill. That's when my heart felt like it was about to burst. I had to slow down because I had not felt my heart beat like that before. I guess my conditioning was not as good as I thought. I usually don't run at that pace. When I run a half marathon to church in the mornings, I usually go at slow and steady pace. During today's race, I pushed myself to pass as many people as I could. I need to do some more interval training to get my heart to take that kind of high pace strain.

Eventually, my heart settled down a bit and then I pushed myself again. When I came near the finish line, I sprinted. I finished in about 23 minutes. I think I could have gone 5 minutes faster had it not been for the slowpokes blocking me in the beginning of the run. I'll have to train a lot harder though if I want to keep up a faster race pace. I don't want to die of a heart attack.

The great thing about racing is that it is fun running with so many people. I can totally understand the pain and heavy breathing from the people around me. We share in the suffering and we revel in our mutual agony. I didn't even wear my new running shoes, because it was raining in the morning and didn't want to get them dirty so soon. So, I ran with my old running shoes.

I used to be faster in high school. I was the fastest kid in junior high. Then, the kids all started getting the growth spurts in high school, and they started running really fast. I was still fast, but not as good as the track stars.

I've been pretty tired lately since I've been helping Sarah's pharmacy as much as possible. We have to work really hard to make our business grow so that we can survive this recession. I don't want to live out on the streets.