St. Patrick's Day 5K

I ran a 5K this morning in Stanley Park. It was the St. Patrick's Day 5K. My goal was to run it in less than 20 minutes, although I hadn't really trained enough to make that a reality.

I have had some good training runs lately, and have felt fit and fast. But this morning, I didn't feel fit or fast. I had to catch a 5:35am bus to The City, so I was tired. I got there more than two hours early, so I had lots of time. I planned to run the course beforehand so I'd be ready.

I was really grumpy though for some reason. I think it started when I signed in, and found out that the race t-shirt I had paid for in advance wasn't available because they sold out. But I paid for it, so I should get one. Gaaa. I guess I'll get one in the mail later.

In my warm-up I felt tired and sluggish and not very limber at all. At just before 10:00am, I took the starting line with more than 700 other people. It was cold and raining, and I wore my running tights with a long-sleeve polyester shirt. When in Ontario last week, I picked up my yellow racing Brazil jersey and wore it over the long-sleeve.

I ran the whole race with a girl who was going my pace. Sometimes I'd pull ahead and she'd catch up, and other times she'd pull ahead and I'd work to catch up. It was a good partnership because I would have been slower without that incentive. My legs felt dead, and I wanted to stop running. But I dug deep and was able to stay with her.

In the end, I finished in 20:33, which is pretty good considering I was tired and not fully trained. But I can do better. The girl I was running with got me in the end by about five meters. I know I ran as hard as I could because I didn't have anything in the tank to keep up with her in the last 50 meters. Here's a shot from the race website. The guy in white out-kicked me. I don't remember seeing him at all during the race, except right at the end as he passed me.



It was a good run, and there was good food in the end. There was vegetarian chili, beef stew, and other hot things. My favourite was a card table set up with six boxes of Lucky Charms, and 6 litres of milk. Cereal after running! Excellent!

I didn't stick around for the awards though, as I got a call from work. I agreed to take a last minute drive, so I had to quickly catch the Greyhound back to Whistler so I could grab a truck and drive straight back down to the airport. The things I'll do to get a driving shift!

I'm now really tired and I have a cold. I haven't slept much today, and have spent too much time driving back and forth to Vancouver. At least I paid for my transport to and from the race with a work shift.

Here are some pics from the race. I finished the race and went straight to the food, while everyone else was talking race-talk with their friends. I was the first to hit the beef stew, and also opened the first box of Lucky Charms. Later, this was the line going for the food and the beer (which you had to pay for, and was green. I didn't buy one.)





As I left Stanley Park, I enjoyed Vancouver's skyline. No wonder they call it the City of Glass.



So, a good race. I didn't run as fast I would have liked, but it's the fasted 5K I've run in five years (I ran an 18:53 in March, 2004 in the Bazan Bay 5K on The Island). I was also happy that I kept running even though I wanted to stop and dive into the bushes and nap. The food was excellent, and I was reminded why sometimes it's good not to know anyone at the race...there's nobody to talk running with, so you get first dibs at the trough!