Life of Riley 5K - Race Report.

It's official I have ran my first ever 5k (second race ever), I wish I could report I obtained all my goals on race day but life through me a curve ball.

My goal was to break 25:00 my race paces had been indicating it was possible and I was feeling really good about my chances. A least until I arrived at the race. I was expecting a 'road race' but found that this was a 'beach run'. This race was an out and back ran right on water's edge of the gulf of Mexico. It was high tide and I would be running against traffic on the 'back' part of the course. The sand on siesta key is very soft and not very good for running. In fact your feet sink in the stuff. It's white powdery, and forgiving. A big reason why all the beach volleyball player love to play here (I think they have professional matches here), unfortunately what is good for a volleyball player is terrible for a runner. We don't intentionally do nose dives, bumps, and spikes.

So needless to say my goals of breaking 25:00 minutes were out of reach even before the race started. My main choice was to run it easy and enjoy the breeze or give it an all out effort and see where I stacked up. I chose to give it my all. I knew it would be painful (and it was) because running on sand is 10 times different then running on the road it really slows you down and wares you out quick.

So there was probably 300 - 400 people there (it was tough to tell) I started a bit to far back in the pack because I must of passed 100 people in the first mile. There was about a foot or two of good running ground between the soft sand and the waves, most were fighting (and slowing down in the process) for the good (which was totally relative) ground. I opted to just run in the soft stuff and pace myself instead.

Mile 1 was a lot of weaving and outside passing, The temperature was around 72 degrees and the heat had already begun to show its presence I took my first split at 8:05. I was overtired and ran out a bit fast (couldn't be avoided I didn't know how to pace on sand). But I was satisfied because I maintained a strong pace in what seemed to be ankle deep sand.

Mile 2 I finally fell into my groove and stopped passing people I was able to creep down close to the water line. It was really rough as there were still sand castles, holes and other sand traps from the day before the race directors didn't bother to grate the running path, so I was on the alert constantly for physical 'traps'. I started to notice runners returning from the turn around point sprinting right at me, yes traffic ran in both directions it was some what chaotic I just stood my ground. 'They can go around me' was my strategy...and they did..LOL. I saw one guy get to close to the surf and do nose dive...must of been refreshing I thought...LOL. Anyhow I finished mile 2 in around 8:55.

Mile 3 was certainly the 'guts mile' as I was spent. I had used up all my stuff and was running in cruise control, thankfully my training took over as I had been on enough long runs to guide me home. Unfortunately my pace dropped by 30 - 40 seconds and I must of been passed by 10 or 12 people, I was ready for this race to be done with. I crossed the finish line at 27:45. Which equated to 128th place overall.

After cooling down, eating a banana and chugging some water I started to assess how well I done. My wife claimed that I came in what seemed to be early and probably top 30 percentile. The overall winner clocked a 17:14 and was a state champ, which is slow for a 5k, but considering the conditions all times would be slower. I wasn't top 6 age bracket (that's all the further they go) but I think I did do really well for the conditions.

Two days later My legs ache in places I didn't know existed so this beach running may have some value and I'm pretty sure I will sign up for another one, but next time I'll be better prepared for the sand, and I will leave the good shoes at home as I must of dumped a half pound out of them when I got home.

Next race will be in August, I can't WAIT! Stay tuned...