New PR!

Sorry for the absence the last couple of days.  I've been traveling with the family and away from my computer.  Just borrowing a computer for today's update, so I'll be MIA again for a couple of days.

Today I ran the 5K in the Fifth Third Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids, MI.  I set a new PR of 28:26.  Yay!

My goals for today were:

1. To finish
2. To run the whole thing
3. If I felt really good, break 30 minutes.

I was worried after taking 10 days off running to deal with some runner's knee issue in both knees.  As recently as Thursday they were still painful and tender.  Thursday night, something clicked, literally, and my knees felt completely normal.  Weird.  I walked and jogged on them a bit on Friday and they still felt good so I decided to run the race rather than DNS.  Besides, I wanted to earn my shirt :)

We are camping near Grand Rapids as we thought it would be more fun for the kids that way.  Except it's a rainy, cold weekend.  Oh well.

Up at 5:15 this morning, got my running gear on and headed to downtown GR.  Found a spot to park off of Seward and walked over to DeVos place to stay warm and dry while I waited for the start time.  The men's 5K was to start at 7:00 a.m.  At 6:45 I headed outside to find my corral and wait for the horn.  Of course right about this time it went from a gentle soft, rain to pouring down hard.  We were all soaked to the skin in minutes.

At 7:00 we were off in the rain.  My glasses were fogging up from the cold rain so I couldn't see much.  Just what was immediately in front of me.  We had a nice tour of downtown GR.  It was nice to see some familiar sites.  There was a couple of small hills.  Not too bad.  I just shortened up the strides and kept on plugging.

About halfway I decided that my knees were feeling good and they could tolerate going a little faster.  So, I took off.  I started passing lots of people.  It was hard to pass cleanly in the crowds.  If I cut you off, I'm sorry.  There never was really a moment where I was in an open space like in the smaller races I normally run.  It was hard to get into my rhythm.  Mostly I just had to go with the flow of the pack and go around people as openings presented themselves.

Even at the finish chute it was hard to push too hard across the finish line due to the congestion.  Still, I managed to accomplish all 3 of my goals today so it was a great day.  After a hot shower and some lunch I'm feeling great.  The knees feel good.  I think they are ready to get back to running.

The event overall was lots of fun and well organized.  I would do it again.  I would not plan to use it as a potential PR event though.  The traffic is just too thick.  When I do it again, I would just do it for the fun and experience.

I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!  Catch up with you all next week.