I’d really hoped that by this year’s Swiss Day’s Race I’d have my 5K time under 30 minutes. Instead, I took a step backward, running a 32:38 after logging 31:58 in a June 9 race in the Adams County 5K Challenge.
I lost some training time along the way to a hamstring pull, but my running has suffered more recently due to being increasingly busy at work (and then often being busy after work as well). In the week before the race I did not get in a single run, though I did make it to boot camp one morning.
What I’m discovering with my new schedule is that if I don’t run in the morning before work, it’s not likely to happen at all. That doesn’t give me a lot of time to get in the longer runs I’d like to be doing, but it’s just the reality of my current situation.
On the plus side, it’s always fun to run Swiss Days, no matter how I do personally. Among the familiar faces was Doug Bauman, who at age 71 ran just over 26 minutes in his 45th consecutive Swiss Days Race. The other 45-year runner I wrote about last year, Barry Humble, was a little slower this year, but I noticed he still had a smile on his face.
Obviously there’s more to the running experience than what time you get in any given race. But I’m not giving up on my goal just yet. There are still five races left in the 5K Challenge, which doesn’t end until November. I’m determined to get under 30 minutes in one of them, and I hope to start training for a longer race sometime this fall as well.
I know this gets tricky for running, but I always do shorter rides during the week, except Tuesday, then save the longer stuff for the weekends. Work sucks… I’d kinda like to see what they do with that crazy free paycheck stuff. I’ll show them how to not only live off it, but how to retire and ride daily off it as well. Wohoo!
We youngsters are always trying to get faster or back to where we once were.
Those older runners get a little slower each year, but they keep on going and seem to be happy.