It's January 1st, 2011. I officially began my training for the Boston Marathon today. A local running shop hosted a "Fun Run" 5K race along the Stanley Park seawall, just West of Vancouver's downtown core. I went into the race with the mindset that "it's just a training run. I'm not looking to break any records today." There's always a goal though, and 5K in under 20 minutes would be nice.
They did a special New Year's style countdown and we were off to the races! I started off modestly, five positions back from the leader. Keeping him in my sights is important, but I'll let him do his thing in the first Kilometer. I'm keeping a 200M sprint to the finish line in my back pocket.
After about 2K, I gradually passed #5 and #4 and found myself neck and neck with #2, a young runner who I saw warming up with sprints earlier. Not sure about that strategy. I noticed him struggling a bit, probably from breathing the sub-zero air, so I said goodbye and passed him. Now it's just the leader and me, mano a mano.
Unsure of the route, I decided to follow the leader closely and wait to see if he tired out. Not gonna happen. I saw him looking back over his shoulder, about 10 or 20 yards ahead of me. I started to push a little more as we climbed the final hill at Lumberman's Arch, but then back down the other side we went, and #1 stepped on the gas. My 200m sprint has now turned into a 500m, but his lead grew, I couldn't catch him, and alas the better man won. My final time was just under 19:00. That's well off my Personal Best, but it's something I can build on in the coming weeks.
I talked to the winner afterwards, and it turns out he'll be running in Boston too. We'll meet again, Darren. We'll meet again.
I'm kinda glad I didn't win today, actually. It's all motivation to work harder and get faster. Unfortunately I dropped something on my foot the other night and had a big bruise, so I wrapped it in a tensor bandage before the race. This worked, as I didn't feel it at all. After finishing, I sat down on a bench, popped my shoe off and removed the bandage. Enter the paparazzi, and suddenly my nasty foot bruise is getting some media attention. The photos will surface on TMZ soon, I'm sure.
So, a Happy New Year to everyone out there. May your 2011 be happy and healthy. Talk soon. K bye.
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