A PR and a Brick

r4k waterSaturday is my day to get up early and run long. I am still building back up from the Country Music Marathon but the schedule for today called for a 9 mile run. Today was also the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home Run 4 Kids 5k. Now, I am not a big fan of 5ks because they get in the way of my normal Saturday run. But this is one race that is hard for me to pass up. How many times to you get to walk to the start and have the honor of having a water stop in your front yard!

My oldest daughter, Amy and I left the house about 7 and walked to the Children’s Home campus. They changed the course this year so we checked a map to get an idea of the changes. Of course, they added two hills.

We made our way to the starting line and started talking with several folks from church and work. The lady I was standing next to looked familiar but I just couldn’t place her. Then I realized it was Laurie, who I had met through Michele at the Tom King Half Marathon in March.

The race has grown in the past five years and has grown to about 500 runners. I knew from past years that it was best to be near the starting line because there are a lot of younger runners that can make it difficult to get into your pace.

The gun fired and everyone took off. I realized that I needed to back of the pace a little but soon settled into a pace that I felt I could maintain. After all this is my “home” course.

As I passed the water stop set up in front of my house a friend who was manning the station yelled at me asking if he could use my garden hose if they ran out of water.

One of the two hills that they added was near the end and it is not a steep but for a 5k it is not in the best place.

I crossed the finish line in 23:30. That is a PR and almost 2 minutes faster than last year. I was pleased.

Amy did well. Her time was 32:22.

While standing around talking with folks and waiting for the awards announcements, a guy introduced himself to me. He said you don’t know me but I read your blog. It seems that Joe found this blog while doing a search for the results for this race last year.

Come to find out that over the past year, Joe’s training has parallel mine. He trained for a December marathon and struggled with an injury this winter. It was really cool to meet Joe and I’m sure our paths will cross again.

They finally announced the awards. I placed third in my age group. I am pleased. Laurie placed second in her age group…congrats!

Knowing that in order to get ready for the triathlon on Memorial Day, I really needed to do at least on brick to get an idea of the transition from cycling to running. So, late this afternoon, I rode 8.5 miles and then ran 2 miles. The first quarter mile running after getting off the bike is really strange. Legs feel funny. I am glad I did it.

So even though I didn’t get to run 9 miles this morning, I feel that I covered the distance that I needed to today.

3 Responses to “A PR and a Brick”

  1. Laurie Hester Says:

    Hey David..It was great to see you again. I am adding you as a link on my site!

  2. michele Says:

    Awesome job!!! 3rd place ag, wow!!! Congrats.

    That running off the bike feeling never gets any better :)

    I am hoping to make it up for JCC to cheer everyone on.

  3. Rae Says:

    Way to go!!!! That’s an awesome time and getting some hardware always makes it more exciting!!

    Can’t wait to hear about your first tri! Is it Sat or Mon?

Leave a Reply