Ran My First 5K Today

Today I ran my first 5K. It was the RadioU 5K at Sharon Woods Metro Park. Apparently they have two 5K trails: one paved and pretty flat and the other that follows a nature trail out just over 1.5 miles and then comes back. Guess which one the race was?

Everyone I talked to before the race (five or six folks) said it was their first 5K ever. And most of them had been training by just running around the sidewalks in their neighborhood.

I started out listening to my Andy Hunter music but then decided I wanted something even more upbeat and flipped over to my Chipzel music. I really don't know at this point if that helped or hurt as I would try to run in time to the music which wore me out a bit, so I would stop running and speed walk.

I kept passing people or being passed by them as I flipped between running and walking at brisk pace. Right after the last big hill on the way back, the person who I later found out got the reward for 2nd place female runner came back to get her friend who seemed impressed that I could fast walk about the same speed as she could slow run.

Not long after that, I heard the guy announcing times and assumed the finish line was right around the corner. I decided I was NOT going to let anyone else pass me. Unfortunately it turned out the guy announcing the finisher's times had a really good PA system as I kept running and running and eventually crossed the line.

Official times have not been posted yet. I saw 34:15 on the clock and then ran over to grab some water and snacks. I feel bad for anyone allergic to bananas since the only refreshments available were water, I think Gatorade, bananas, and banana bread from Bob Evans.

Take-aways from the race: running with someone is motivation to run faster, do better, and push yourself more than you would think. Hills make for a harder, better workout than running on flat surfaces. Also I need something to put my keys and cell phone in besides the pockets in my shorts. They started jabbing my legs as soon as I started running and there was not room in my iPod case for my keys or cell phone so I just had to hold them in one hand as I ran.

The Right Workout Music Can Make All the Difference

Tonight I was doing a run and just picked my video game soundtrack playlist and put it on shuffle mode and let it pick a random album. It played a couple songs from the Shatter soundtrack which is decent upbeat but kind of ambient music that put me in a bit of a zone. Unfortunately I skipped a couple songs that I heard way too much when playing the game which meant I was quickly onto the next album on the playlist.

Which turned out to be Thomas Was Alone. Fantastic game, great soundtrack but unfortunately for me and my run, the sound track is more of a mellow, laid-back vibe to it. Wonderful for thinking, writing, coding, etc. Awful for a fast-paced workout.

Every time I started to get up a good pace, it would settle into a more mellow part of the soundtrack and I just could not keep a good pace to save my life. Which is a huge problem when you're running from zombies. See previous post.

Run When You Are Being Chased

One of my previous coworkers often said the only way he would run is if something/someone was chasing him. I seem to have found the perfect workout program for that line of thinking and it is quite fun.

Enter Zombies Run! There are two versions of it: the 5K trainer which has you doing 8 weeks of training up to being able to run a 5K. It alternates between whatever music playlist you have selected end the story line while you are working out and it is walk/run intervals.

The main app, which I have not tried yet, sends you out on missions to grab supplies and build up your base. Kind of a mini-Sim City type thing but you need to run to grab the supplies.

I'm planning on working my way through the Zombies 5K and then buy the whole thing at some point soon after that.