Quick 5K Race Between Monster Mile Days

I had planned to run the Trot for the Troops 5K in East Lansing on Easter Saturday while Kelly and the kids were gone, but a huge mileage day on Good Friday and another huge mileage day planned for Easter Sunday had me reconsidering how I was going to run the race or if I was going to run the race at all. While the family was away, I really increased the mileage and on Friday met up with a couple fellow RUTsters and became an Ultrarunner. I met up Steve and Keith at the Waterloo Recreation Area and ran a 50K. Yeah, 31 miles. That was the furthest I ran in any day. It was a fun day on the trails, but also saw the importance of hydration. On our first 11 miles out and 11 miles back, we ran out of water and one us started getting dehydrated. I was also planning on meeting up with a large group of the RUTsters for a group run on Sunday at Island Lake Recreation Area. 5 or 6 of us were going to shoot for a 50K. I felt good when I got home Friday night and decided that I would wake up Saturday, jog 3 miles to see how I felt, and then decide if I would race.


My 3 mile test Saturday morning went well, so I decided to drive over to East Lansing and race the Trot for the Troops 5K. This race was being put on by the Arnold Air Society, a service organization of the Air Force ROTC, to honor those who have served our country in the past and present. The race was going to take place on the sidewalks along the Red Cedar River on the Michigan State University campus. The race was a relatively small race with 69 runners. We had a quick explanation of the course and we were off. Because I had run so much the day before, I eased into my race pace and did not really hit my stride until a half mile in. It was here that I passed a pack of 4 to 5 runners and settled about 20 yards behind a runner that was keeping a nice steady pace that I thought I could keep up. We had quite a bit of twists and turns, but I could see him and another runner ahead of him. I thought, "Not bad, I will take a third place." I continued to stay back about the same distance throughout the race, had a nice final kick, and finished 12 seconds back of the runner ahead of me with a PR time of 20:02. When I crossed the finish line I met the other finishers. Three of them. Yeah, the winner was so far ahead that I did not see him. He finished with a time of 17:09 and won by 1:31. Now that is fast. I ended up missing out a trophy by one place, but got an awesome dog tag for winning my age division. I was glad I decided to drive over.


I continued the monster mile holiday weekend by adding a 9 mile trail run on the way home and a Fartlek workout with my buddy Brian that evening. The run the next day was a nice slow long run day. 31 miles again at Island Lake with the Rutsers. I finished the week with 125 miles, my first 2 50K training runs, and a lot of fun.