Last week, on Monday, I blogged that I was ready to run, and I was going to push myself in my second 5K race on Saturday to see what I could accomplish. 

On Tuesday when I started to run, felt the start of shin splints in both my shins.  The pain wasn’t bad, but it was there.  I kept running and after the first mile or so, the pain went a way.  Later, I read up on the causes of shin splints, and I believe I was developing them because I had added several sprints after my normal runs to increase my speed.  The week before most of the path  I ran on was covered in snow and ice, and running on such an imbalanced course may have increased the pressure my shins were taking. 

I asked on Facebook what to do for shin splints, and I received a lot of good advice: from evaluating my shoes, to stretching,  to using ice and heat, to looking into ChiRunning, to stop running and rest my shins.  I looked up some specific stretches for the shins and calves, and started doing those immediately. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, the pain came and went.   Normally, I would have just stopped running for the week, but I had been looking forward to this race, and  I really wanted to run in it.  However, I knew it was not worth getting a serious injury, or having to sit out for months, just for one race.  I made the decision reluctantly on Thursday night, that if I had any more pain in my shins before the race, I was not going to run in it.  I started using heat and ice on my shins. 

I woke up on Friday and they felt great.  If I touched my shin bone, there was a tiny bit of discomfort, but it wasn’t painful.  I did not run on Friday, but Friday night I did some stretches and the heat and ice again before I went to bed.  Saturday morning I woke up, and there was no pain- not even when I touched my shin bones.  I was so excited, and was ready for the race!

The weather in Denver on Saturday for the Denver Veteran’s Day 5K Race, was beautiful.  It was sunny and in the high 30′s.  The race started at 8AM, and it was a perfect morning for running.  My dad was excited to come with me again, and he is now the “official” race photographer!

Right after I had warmed up- about 15 minutes until race time!

I discovered that I was in the age category for 35 and older, but I had no idea how many people were in my age group. The top three winners in each age group, both male and female would be awarded a medal.   Most of the runners looked young- the race was on a college campus, so the vast majority of runners were college aged.  I lined up in the 8-10 mile group, or the second group to start:

You can see my “secret weapon” I mentioned in my Ready to Run blog post in these two pictures P.S- the black ankle bracelets everyone is wearing is the timer chip

Since I started in the second wave, we had to stand around for about a minute waiting.  I was trying to visualize running the course, but it is really hard to stay calm, when you just want to start running!  They told us the course was two laps around, and it was time to go!

This race was so uncrowded, I was able to run right by my dad when I started.  That was nice.  There was also a barefoot running club that had several runners running in their bare feet, as you can see in the picture above.  My dad got quite a kick out of that- he didn’t think anyone should be running on a public street in their bare feet! (that is a hint to my “secret weapon” too, if you haven’t guessed, or noticed yet.   )

As I started running, I realized I started out too fast. My pacing was off.  I was mad that I had let the excitement distract me.  I also felt hot immediately.  I had been debating taking my jacket off before the race, but it was cold.  The first few minutes I was already hot, but I didn’t want to take the time to mess up my pacing anymore by taking the jacket off.  I decided to run with it and then dump it at the start of the second lap.  

I tried to make the adjustment to get my pacing back on track.   A lot of people passed me, but I wasn’t paying too much attention to them.  I was focusing on getting my stride and breathing back to where I know it needed to be.  I was very happy though, I had not felt any pain in my shins.

After about half a mile, I felt like I was back on my pacing, and started to relax and just enjoy the run.  I noticed one female runner who had passed me at the beginning, looked about my age and she was about 50 yards ahead of me.  The course was great- there was lots of room to run, and there was no one around you.  It was very easy to concentrate and focus on running.  The only issue I was having was I was hot.  I had unzipped the jacket and that helped some, but I couldn’t wait until I could shed it.

I noticed a lot of younger guys were passing me, but that was okay.  I passed a few people too, but I wasn’t paying too much attention to their ages.  The only person I kept my sights on was the  female runner that was still ahead of me.

As I approached the end of the first lap, I started trying to take my jacket off, and it got stuck!  Then it wouldn’t go over my gloves! I was so frustrated, but was trying not to let it break my concentration.  I passed the start line, saw my dad, and finally got the jacket off!  I was very happy to throw it in the grass.  But then my earphones got twisted up and were dangling off of me.  I had to take my gloves off to fix the earphones, and then put the gloves back on.

By the time these issues were fixed, I felt like I had lost some time.  Having been around the course once already, I started making a mental plan on when I could make some time up, or at least try not to slow down.  A female barefoot runner passed me, and that seemed to give me a shot of motivation.  I didn’t want anyone else to pass me.  Around 2.5 miles, I started to speed up slightly, trying to making up some of the time I felt I had lost. 

I focused on my breathing, and stride.  I was tired, but I told myself I was almost done, and this would show me what I could do. I started running faster.  We were coming down the last 300 yards or so, and I was right about to pass the female runner that had been ahead of me the entire run. I thought for a second if my shins could handle it, but I had been training sprinting 400 yards.  I decided to go for it!!

As soon as I started sprinting she did too. I told myself I didn’t work that hard on my sprinting for nothing.  This was the moment I could give it my all- my absolute best now, and see what would happen.  This is a picture of that moment:

I passed her with about 100 yards left to go (she’s wearing the cap), and I crossed the finish line!  I heard the announcer say my number and name, and she added, “What a finish!”

I was elated and thrilled!  Despite all the issues I dealt with during this race, I was able to work them out, and had a strong finish.  I also knew without checking the clock or time, that it was the fastest I have ever ran!

My dad gave me a hug, and I told him I had to keep moving for a few minutes.  He walked with me, and told me had timed me for the first lap and he thought I was about 14 minutes.  He said if I had done that for my second lap, I’d be right around the 28 minute mark.  My goal for this race for time was under 30 minutes.  I had only hit this once before- the Tuesday before the race- I had run the distance in 29:53.

Moments after I had finished the race

I ate some food and talked to my dad while we waited the results.  He was happy to tell me that the first few people that had crossed the finish line were runners that were wearing shoes!  We walked around looking at the vendor’s swag, and I got some cool whistles for Ryan and Cole.  I was going to go put my jacket in the car, when I saw they had the results posted.  I had to wait about five minutes before I could work my way in to the table to check.  It took me a few minutes to find my name, and when I did, I checked, double checked, and triple checked.  I thought I was reading the results wrong. 

My dad was a few feet away from the table, and he was dying to know my time.  I had my results memorized by now, and I left the result table to tell him.  My results were:

Time: 27:07. My personal best!   I finished at 36:35 at the Race for the Cure.  I dropped 9:28 off my time in a month!

Lap 1 Time: 13:34

Lap 2 Time: 13:33

I was in 5th place for my age group out of 32 runners. 

I finished 64th overall out of 135 runners.

I finished 16 seconds behind the 4th place finisher, 1:08 behind the third place finisher, 6:02 behind the second finisher, and 6:32 behind the first place finisher. 

I missed a medal by only two people.  I wasn’t sad, but amazed that I finished that close to runners who medaled!  I never would have thought that this was possible three months ago, when I barely had enough energy to function!

I pushed myself, and I was on cloud nine with the results! 

I had no shin pain after the race, but on Saturday night, the tendons above my right ankle hurt.  On Sunday my shins felt great, but on Sunday night I woke up in the middle of the night and they were throbbing.  On Monday, they hurt again, like they did last week. 

I am taking at least a week off from running to let my shins, and tendons rest.  I have some good news about my dad, that I’ll share in another blog post soon. 

I’m eyeing another 5K in December- the ColderBolder at the CU campus in Boulder, or the Rudolph Ramble in City Park in Denver.

To be continued…