Teaching an Old Howard New Tricks
A year and a half ago, Howard bought a Raleigh hybrid bicycle and started riding daily. Those first few weeks of riding were sheer hell. Then bicycling began to feel more natural and comfortable and fun. So Howard went even faster, which cancelled out the comfort and fun. And on and on it went, until Howard is now putting in 150-200 miles a week on his Fuji touring bicycle, and feeling the fun, despite continued discomfort due to pushing himself ever harder.Perhaps the same thing is starting up again, only this time with running. Howard ran in a St. Patrick's Day Sharin' O' The Green 5K Run in Fort Collins on Saturday. 5 kilometers is equal to 3.1 miles, and to be honest, this is the first time since Howard was a teenager that he's ran more than 3 miles all in one go.
On Wednesday, Howard did his one and only training run of 2.8 miles in about 22 minutes. He felt like crap, but still felt that it was a sustainable pace for where he is right now aerobics-wise. So he figured he would do the same pace on Saturday -- 8 minutes per mile. This meant that he would try to finish the 5K race in 25 minutes.
Final time -- 24:28. Ave. time -- 7:53 per mile. Finished 55th of 551 runners, too. Not sure how he did among his age group though.
Howard's pretty sure that the 54 runners ahead of him -- and a bunch behind him too -- were pretty serious runners who had put in pretty serious training time. So Howard's pleased with his efforts. Although he still regrets getting passed by that guy pushing the stroller in the last half-mile -- the only one to pass Howard during the entire race!
Now he's gunning for the 10K Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day, May 28th. A month ago, he signed up for a laid-back 10 min./mile heat. Perhaps he should re-think that?
posted by Howard at 2:41 PM
3 Comments:
Howard, my man, that was an awesome time! Especially considering your lack of running specific training! I'm a runner, converted to cycling, so I know a bit of what I speak.
Congratulations!
J
Thank you John! Wow, that's good to hear! I really don't know anything about running except that it hurts when you fall down and it feels good when you stop. As for times, I've seen some training plans for people wanting to do 7-minute miles and even less, so I didn't know if 7:53 was decent or not. It sure felt decent because every molecule of my being was screaming at me to stop. But still... 54 runners did better than me, so the competitive juices are flowing at the thought of all those juicy rabbits needing to be chased! I DID pass about 50 other runners along the route, and was passed by only one -- a guy with a stroller!! Hahaha!
I used to run (cross country athletic scholarship in college) but got into cycling because running hurts too much.
I moved away from Colorado about a year ago; I really miss the place!
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