Midnight Madness

Two 5K’s back-to-back? Running at 10:30 pm and 12:10 am? No sweat. It’ll be fun! That’s what I thought when we signed up. The races were fun, or at least novel (not to be confused with a novelty race), but they weren’t easy, or pain free. Number one, I haven’t pushed my runs in awhile. Number two, I’m not a night person. Number three, we moved to a warmer location, so my body isn’t used to running in the cold. Results? A hard run and maybe a new PR, but I was sore!

I haven’t run as much since my half-marathon. (Granted, I needed some time off.) Then we hiked the Grand Canyon and my foot hurt. And then we moved and traveled, leaving my body very worn out. I only walked for the first few weeks after we moved, and then I started running again. I went on some longer runs, even up to 5.5 miles, the pre-10K training distance, and I thought I’d be fine, but I haven’t been running fast or hard. I intended to keep up with our friend running 8:15 miles at a higher elevation. Right out the gate, I knew I couldn’t keep up. And I was pushing it to come in at 25:35. That was 8:13 a mile, but it didn’t feel good, and I didn’t super enjoy it. I’m just competitive with myself and wanted to run fast.

I don’t run at night. I’m normally in bed asleep by 10:30 pm, so running that late wasn’t great. I’ve normally eaten a big snack by then, but since I was running, I’d just had dinner and a lonely muffin. So I wasn’t well fueled. I felt nauseous after that first race and didn’t do more than sip some water and toast with apple cider before the second race.

I don’t run much in the cold anymore, or at least when I’m rapidly taking in cold air. My chest hurt during this one. I also got several stitches. I tried breathing out, but as noted above, felt nauseous. It might be because I’d eaten too close to the start of the race. But I was hungry....

I finished 4/8 in my age group for the first run. For the second run, we stuck together with friends for a run/walk. I finished 14/14 for that race (and behind my husband and our friends). It hurt to run starting out, so the walking was probably good for me. The group gathered up a sprint at the end; but I didn’t have what they had in me. (Maybe I should do some speed work? But I don’t like it.)

We finished two 5Ks in two days, though. We got some cool medals. We spent time with friends. My husband and I got close to crossing a finish line together. (As noted above, he beat me in the sprint.) All in all, it was a cool experience.

Would I run this race again? Maybe. If it was with my husband and the right people. But running the race for running’s sake? No, that’s kind of madness. Midnight madness!