Guelph 5k - Race Report

Race: Meridian-Credit-Union-Sponsored Guelph CHC 5k
Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010

Location: Downtown Guelph Ontario, population 115,000.

Weather: drizzle turning to partly cloudy,  12°C (54°F) 

Scheduled Start Time: 8:45

Runner: Andrew Opala
Information: 45, Male

I lay out my stuff the night
before so that it's all visible
on the floor of my office.  

Pre-Race: I plan to be at the race at least 15 mins. before registration begins to pickup my bib and goody bag.

I pick up the goody bag and all the
volunteers seem to be a lot more
nervous than me! (picture taken later)

We arrive race morning at 7:15 a.m.  An appropriate iPod Touch playlist of 150 BPM songs has been created and synced to the player.

There's construction in the city, and the directions are not clear and I'm (selfishly) worried the rest of my family won't make the journey to be there for the start of my race.  A lot of my family arrives and I'm shocked and confused.  My family, nieces, nephews and in-laws have made shirts up for the race!  (writing this now I'm teary-eyed).  They also make a big poster that absolutely EVERYONE can see!

8:30: organizers call everyone to take positions behind the start line, and to check to make sure our ankle bands with the RFIDs are on and in place firmly.  I'm trying to listen to the instructions, ask people around me what speed they run at to find a good location in the pack, fiddle with my iPod and then I hear my family yelling at me from the sidewalk.




"3" "2" "1" HOOOORN: It's 8:45 am and the race has started, I nod down to make sure my wrist time is ready for when I cross the start line - it takes about 20 seconds to get to it from where I am in the pack.

1. I run with the pack (very tight around three turns going up hill), my strategy is to run this up-hill portion easy and make it to the 1k mark in 6:26.  This is my training speed for a similar slope and I know this will need to be taken slowly for me to have enough energy at the end.  I'm feeling tired - and I'm getting disappointed.  My heart is averaging 154 - way over alarm zone.  Way over.   
2. My first split time taken from memory on the map needs to be slower than 6:26.  I press the button on the watch 6:05 - am I effing kidding myself - I'm screwing up this race already - I trained for 11 weeks - so many people cheering for me - wishing me well - I'm friggen wrecking it already - I shouldn't have taken those three days off and should not have tapered down - I should have ran a normal 30k per week - F**K!
3. People are passing me now with little courtesy - don't you guys know I'm a first timer!  Show me some respect I'm getting really really down on myself.  I'm still very tired and there is no way I can keep up with these faster people - oh wait a second my music is playing and I'm not even paying attention.  I hit the split time: 5:30 - what!  I've never ran a second split of 5:30 - never!  I'm going to be dead tired at the end - I won't even make my 32:27 training PR!
4. I make the turn to start heading back to the start - THE ORGANIZERS HAVE CHANGED THE ROUTE!  I don't know where to take my next split - it's still level-downhill, but I'm expecting some switch-back turns to make it up the hill near the start - very very disappointed - I can see up the street and there has to be about 1.5 k of everyone in the race up ahead of me.
5. Thinking I'm somewhere near my 3k split I press the watch again: 8:03!  I'm f**king this race up!  You g*d d**m f**king b*stard - why did you ever think you could run with the big boys in a race?  WHY!?!?
6. I'm climbing up this hill and I see a yellow 4k marker - I press the split time: 4:26.  WHAT?  That means 8:03+4:26 = 12:29 for 2k = 6:15 for each split - HOLY SH*T that's faster than EVER!
7. I'm alone into my last two turns - there's a young guy with a back pack clapping and yelling to me "Good job number 4-thirteen" - I smile at him and say a super ingenious comment - "I couldn't have done it without you!"  Will I have enough energy to sprint for Matty?
8. I begin the sprint - the runners that have already finished in the last 15 minutes are eating bananas and fruit and are standing at the sides clapping. I dip me head forward, my arms start moving a little faster, I'm starting to bend more at the waste, and my legs seem to speed up, I am breathing like a poorly tuned pickup crossing the rocky mountains!  My heart alarm is flashing 95% Max HR - and it's not happy.  My ankles start to bend more and I'm leaning into the run - I start to sprint and I feel like 300 people are pushing my legs to go faster - I'm just a spectator.  I turn the corner and try to make out the time between pounding, and I hear the announcer stating the time of some runners ahead of me - this is way too fast - there must be something wrong - WHO CARES - RUN YOU DUMMY! 

I cross the line.

Clock Time: 31:40
Chip Time: 31:23 - a New PR
All the times here.  I'm number 195

I beat my training PR by 1:04.  Still panting and dry heaving, I start to walk away from the start in a daze.  Nothing hurts - I feel like my body has been taken away from me - it is very very quiet.  As I begin to catch my breathe I realize I want to go to my family - I want to tell them I am SOOO grateful for them - I am so BLESSED to have them in my life.  The Angel sent from heaven to take care of me sees me first:

This morning - 2 days later - I ran 5k.  It was easier than anything I have ever done before.  How can it be hard when so many people are with you!

I learned not to trust the emotional panicky me - but instead, to manage me like an asset to be used to achieve a goal.

Thank you everyone!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!!!