Overall this was a great weekend. I got a ton of work done on Saturday. Then I woke up Sunday to run the Linda Yalem 5K. This race is focused on raising safety awareness. Linda Yalem was a victim of the bike path serial rapist/murderer. He was recently convicted. I like this race because it is held on UB’s campus making it generally flat and open despite the 1500 people running with you. I also like it because it has a really great post race picnic.
I don’t do 5K races often. The big races tend to blow my budget for signing up, but I try to get one done a year. I usually finish in just over 30 minutes. My best and only Yalem run time was 34:07 when I ran this race with by lab buddy Silvia. This year I was running alone. I left for the race around 7:50. AJ and Stacey stayed home because it was 40 degrees and we planned on taking AJ to the pumpkin farm afterwards. We didn’t want AJ to get tired. As usual with the Yalem run, it was very well organized picking up the race packet. Another great thing about the run, no port-a-potties. The school opens the alumni center which has bathroom facilities. I walked around a bit and ran into a Life Tech co-worker, Matt. Matt planned on doing a mile before the race. Although tempted, I decided I would just warm up by jogging in the parking lot.
Although I wasn’t cold, I was sort of chilled. So I sat in my car drinking gatorade and eating my special K bar. The parking lot is literally two feet from the starting line. At 0915 I did some laps up and down the aisles to warm up. I jumped in line when I heard Amazing Grace play. The gun sounded and we were off.
I did my first mile in 9 minutes. I walked for a minute thirty seconds, even in small races I follow the Galloway plan just to try out different patterns. This time, rather than doing 8 minutes running 2 minutes walking, I am doing run to a mile marker, walk for two minutes. I reached mile two at 18:30. I walked two minutes, then took off for the rest of the race. It was nice to see that I wasn’t tiring very much and I was not working so hard I couldn’t say thank you to volunteers.
As you know, I cramp during races. In fact, I cramped during the previous Linda Yalem run between 2 and 3 miles. I think I may actually be drinking too much. So this race I skipped the water spot. I didn’t feel any cramping at all. Woo Hoo. Between miles 2 and 3 there is a single small hill that has a weird turn in it that makes it feel steeper than it actually is. I went up no problem and finished the race in 29:50. That is a new personal record in a 5K race, although I have run 5K’s for training in less time. Still, it is a 4 minute 17 second improvement. That is two races in a row that I set a PR. I will be interested in seeing what the Turkey Trot has in store if I am able to fit it in.
Filed under: running
Wow, way to go on setting a new PR! That’s exciting.
I hear what you’re saying about the big races blowing the budget. When I started running I was happy that it was so cheap, and the only expense is a good pair of shoes. Little did I know! Once we started running races, it definitely adds up.
Are you talking about the Turkey Trot 8k on Nov 25 there in Buffalo? We’ve got a 10k Turkey Trot here in Richmond the same day. We might check it out.
Congrats again on the 5k time!
Yup, the 8K. It all depends, we have a lot of family coming, so it will depend on how prepared I feel for thanksgiving.
Thank you. Linda was my childhood best friend. she was an amazing person and i will miss her always. I go to the places we went as kids..and miss her dearly.. My little sister was a big part of her life as well. Thank you all for her honor. We think about her everyday… We go to the pool where still to this day. We talk about her every time..Cheese sandwiches and water.. chips..roller skating too! Bless her heart..
Thank you so much for your comment. It is awesome to know her friends still care for her. I will have a cheese sandwich this weekend and not be able to smile.