Twelve Thousand

I ran the New Charles River Run this morning. I did the 7.5 mile (12k) run but they also had a 5K and a relay. How did I do after running maybe twice in the last six weeks, after spending a couple weeks abroad stuffing myself on rich food and countless liters of ale?

Fantastic!

I pleasantly surprised myself this morning. Shocked myself, to be honest. I was worried about being out of shape, out of training, making a spectacle of myself crawling on all fours to cross the 3-mile mark, let alone the finish line, leaving a trail of blood, tears and vomit behind me. But I just took it slow and steady and pounded out 7.5 miles at about a 10.6 min. pace according to my rough calculations (haven't seen my actual time yet) [Ed: 10:42. Just checked. Not going to put up my place. Decidedly not-first.]. Perfect weather this morning - overcast, cooler and misty, although still quite humid. Definitely helped not having the sun beating down. Here's a map of the race routes:



It was a huge event - I think they said 1,500 participants - and it was hugely motivational to run along with everyone. I felt a lot better mentally for this race than I did for the Canal Diggers. No crippling nerves - I didn't care about my time, expecting a cruddy performance. My goal was just to finish. Worked better than I had hoped! I also didn't think much about the race itself while running - just rocked it with my iPod until the 4th mile marker, when it hit me, "Hey, I'm over halfway there. I can do this!" At that point I started looking for the other distance markers and thinking about the end, so the second half felt like it took a lot longer.

The energy and excitement and pure feel-goodness at a race is hard to describe. Almost everyone is grinning, happy to be alive and participating. It's a very varied demographic in terms of age, gender, weight, shape (both, er, physical and health-wise). Really cool to be a part of something like this. It was just so much...fun!

The only problem - and it's an admittedly enormous one - is that they ran out of free beer!

UNCONSCIONABLE!!!

Now - and I am addressing Harpoon Brewery management directly here - I understand that there were a ton of people there, but you knew the number of registered runners days beforehand. If you say there's going to be free beer, there should at least be enough so that half the people (inevitably all in the Slow Man's Class like me, bringing up the rear) don't get screwed out of the lovely hoppy goodness of Harpoon IPA! I mean come on! The thought of a pint of Harpoon IPA was what kept me going, what gave me that final kick for the last half mile. To sprint across the finish line, walk through the patio area with other racers laughing and enjoying bubbly golden beers, to push my way up to the table only to see kicked kegs and forlorn faces was almost too much to bear. Please, for the love of all that is good and decent in this world, have enough beer next time.

Take a lesson from Vitamin Water and Snickers. The former had limitless cans of a choice of their waters to hydrate racers, and the latter included their (new?) protein bar in each racer's bag. You can bet that next time I run one of these things I will buy Snickers power-bars. That thing gave me energy to spare this morning! And they had one for everyone.

(Some may say, "Well Mike, perhaps if your fat ass had finished above the bottom 5th percentile then you would've had beer galore." To these people I say: a fair point, and motivation for future races! I still think Harpoon screwed the pooch. Perhaps I'm bitter? Most assuredly so, but not as bitter as that hoppy IPA that I didn't get to taste!)

This is not only the longest race I've run yet (my previous was a 5K) but I think it was the longest distance I've ever run (7.5 mi. = 12K). Even in my track days I think 5 miles was the most I ever ran. So this is a big accomplishment for me personally. It got me to thinking, as my roommate pointed out ("You ran half of a half-marathon!"), that if I can do this, out of shape, bloated, and more or less cold and feel this good, then maybe, just maybe, with the proper training and effort, once I get back into A-side shape, that I could maybe, just maybe, do the Ultimate.

Plenty of time until next April, right?

Also cool was that four-time marathon winner Bill Rodgers was a VIP at the race today. Last Tuesday I went to his Running Center in the North Market Building at Faneuil Hall to pick up my race stuff. He was there, autographing small posters. Really nice guy, seemed genuinely pleased to meet me, took a few minutes to give me good advice ("Drink lots of water before the race!") and now I have it sitting on my desk for inspiration. The whole thing was pretty sweet.

Now, to ice my swollen IT bands and consult Dr. B. Larry on pain medication.