Big D 5k Race Recap

The Big D race takes place each year in April and is put on by Mellew Productions, a local race organization company. I had originally planned on doing the marathon, but after my December 31 marathon at the New Years Double and the 5k race the next day, I ended up with painful tendinitis and a bad attitude towards running. I actually disliked running for a few weeks. I had forgotten about how joyful and exhilirating running can be, and all I could focus on was how uncomfortable it was and how much pain I was in. It took almost a full month before my tendinitis subsided, and then took another couple of weeks to get back into the rhythm of running again. By February, I was thinking of running again, and started upping my mileage. I think the highest I got was 15 or 16 miles before it came time to do a taper for the Texas Independence Relay (someday, I'll get around to posting about that race haha). After the Texas Independence Relay, I really was just sore. My knees hurt. I was achy. I felt like a big baby. A big running baby. So I sucked it up and decided to run the 5k.

After deciding to run the 5k, I decided that I was going to run it fast. So I started really focusing on getting speed and tempo runs in. By the time the Big D came around, I felt prepared, but increasingly nervous. I had set a time goal of running a 5k in under 30 minutes and I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to make it. I was a nervous wreck. I know a 5k in under 30 minutes seems pretty "easy" to some runners, this would be a big deal for me - a self-described "slow" runner. Getting to a sub-30 5k was like a rite of passage to me. Proof that I was officially a runner.And really, it's funny because I consider anyone who runs - at ANY speed - a runner. But, I have always had trouble identifying myself as a runner. That will be a discussion for another day though. I guess that point that I want to get across was that I was nervous. Very nervous.

I got to the race and used the bathroom. It was a very long line since there was a marathon, half marathon, and a 5k all in the same day, with start times separating the full/half and the 5k by about 30 minutes. After a bathroom break in the ultra stinky, toilet paperless port o potty, I decided to do a quick warm up lap. I ended up running about a mile as a warm up. This was the first time that I had ever run a warm up lap. It felt great and helped me bypass those pre-race jitters. I got lined up towards the front (but not *too* close to the front to be in the way of faster runners), and got ready to start. The horn beeped, I hit start on my garmin, and off I went.

I had already decided that I was going to run my 5k for my family. My first mile, I dedicated to my husband. He is cautious by nature and researchers products/items/actions extensively before making a major decision. Like him, I had read, reread, and analyzed blogs and running articles about the pitfalls of "going out too fast." So I was conservative with my first mile. I slowed down - even though I felt like I could sprint ahead. I conserved my energy and waited. This was probably a good thing because the first mile of a 5k race is when all the people that lined up ahead of you - and are actually slower runners or run/walkers - decide that they are going to either A) stop running with no warning directly in front of you (this happened to me and I almost collided with the person! I sometimes want to yell out, "Runners on the LEFT walkers on the RIGHT!" at races because people just don't seem to follow this rule and end up slowing others up or causing accidents), B) slow down and walk, or C) figure out that they went out too fast and are now huffing and puffing while you motor past them. This particular course zig-zagged through Fair Park in Dallas and the corners on some of the turns in the first mile were pretty sharp. I saw it causing a few accidents of runners colliding and I also saw people with jogging strollers getting held up because they couldn't make the tight turn. My watch dinged and I was off to mile 2.

Mile 2 I ran for my sweet daughter (who happened to be 2!). I ran for her during this mile because mile 2 of a 5k is always a little hard for me, and my sweet girl is always trying to run fast to keep up with her older brother. She has to use her energy and kick her legs to keep up and she is a determined little girl with a lot of spirit, and there is NO WAY she would let him run off without her trailing behind. I, too, wanted to kick it into overdrive and run with ambition and determination during mile 2 - to catch up to those that were ahead of me. I picked out female runners ahead of me and focused on passing them. I call this chasing ponytails because usually I'm just looking for a ponytail peaking out of someone's baseball cap to distinguish who I am "chasing." I chased ponytails and passed a few people. It felt good!

My watch beeped and I was at mile 3 and I was feeling great still. I dedicated mile 3 to my son, who runs with reckless abandon. Who loves to run and runs with joy and passion and absolute love. It's beautiful to watch him run because he is so happy and natural (and has GREAT natural form too). I picked up my pace at mile 3 because that's what Danny would've done. I picked a ponytail way in the distance and chased her. I chased her down hard too. We ran together, panting heavily for a good quarter mile, if not further. Finally, I broke free and ran ahead of her. It felt amazing to pass her - mainly because she put on such a great race. It felt like we were athletes and seriously competing with each other. Soon after I passed her, my watch beeped and I had only .1 miles left to go.

The last .1 miles, I dedicated to myself. I poured in all my hardwork, all of my training, my desire to win, and I just RAN for it. I sprinted. I used every glycogen store my body had left. And I finished in less than 30 minutes. I was so happy I wanted to hug everyone around me. The girl I had raced toward the end finished and I went over and chatted her up for a few minutes. We had a great conversation. She was a newer runner and had been running less than a year and had improved her 5k time by almost 8 minutes. Very impressive!

My final time? A PR of 27:40 and I was 4th in my age group!! I actually camped out in the results tent because I was pretty sure I had a chance at placing 3rd based on the previous year's results. However, I was almost a minute and a half slower than the 3rd place winner. I have already decided that this will be a race I do again next year for the 5k - with a goal of coming in 3rd or better. I do have to say, though, had I not been so close to "winning" this year, I would probably not be doing this race next year. Mellew Productions does quite a few races in Dallas, and I've attended a few of them now. My overall impression is that they are not very well organized and let details slip through the cracks. For instance, my friend ran the Big D Marathon, and the lead pace car ended up going an extra mile and a half or so...which made the marathoners run over 27 miles instead of 26.2. For those of you who have never attempted a marathon, even a step over the 26.2 mile marker feels horrendous. You are tired, hungry, and just ready for the race to be over. It is brutal. I can't imagine having to run the extra mile and a half with planning to only do a marathon! Mentally, that had to be horrendous. Mellew didn't really issue much in the way of an apology and really seemed to put the blame on the pace car and the runners. That doesn't settle well for me, personally (especially since this race was a Boston Qualifier and people were trying desperately to get their BQ). I, however, was happy with my PR and will forever hold this race special in my heart because of it.