I did really well today, I was very impressed, and besides that, I had fun.

Today was the New Times 5k and 10k on Mill Avenue, which is pretty close to my house (3-4 miles).  Rather than pay the $$ and get another useless tee-shirt, though, I decided I would just run my own 10k to the event, ending up at the finish line area, where I could be in the company of other runners, use a porta-potty, and possibly pick up a snack at the finish line expo.

I plotted a route in my neighborhood that should have put me right at the finish line at about 6.1 miles and I set off from home about an hour from when the first 10k’ers would be crossing the finish.

I went about 1.5 miles effortlessly, being surprised each time my half-mile alert went off.  I had even forgotten that I gave myself permission to stop and rest briefly every mile on these long runs.  I didn’t really feel like I needed it, but my “speed up” alerts started going off, so I figured I may as well take a quick break right around the 1.5 mile mark.

I did want another break in another mile, but didn’t take another one until another mile and 1/3 had gone by.  At that point, I had gone nearly 4 miles and was still feeling very good.

I inadvertantly got another brief rest right around 4 miles ’cause I got stopped at a light, and that was enough to keep me rolling for another mile and a half.

For the final half-mile, I got a little messed up.  I was starting to run into the spectators for the event and I had estimated a little short on the distance, so I had to run circles around a little courtyard to get the rest of my mileage in at the end and my speed suffered as a result, but not enough to drag my average down too low.  I was able to hold 5.7 mph for the run and I consider that a fine success.

At the finish line, I cheered in runners and listened to the announcer roll off interesting facts about the race and it’s participants.  Seems you get a prize if you ‘beat your age’ on the 10k.  That is, if you’re 57 and you come in under 57 minutes, you win.  I would need to be about 64 years old to beat my current 10k time.  So, all I will need to do is not get any slower over the next 25 years and I’ll be right on track for that.  Yeah, right!

However, if I do keep running for another 25 years, I could win one of their other prizes, the one for whoever has the oldest New Times race tee-shirt.  I was wearing mine from the 30th annual event, but this year was only 32, so I was not in any position to win that, either.  Good thing I didn’t enter, hey?

At the finish line expo, I grabbed an apple and a muffin and a variety of creams and lip balm and coupons for various running gear.  I used the facilities, and listened for a while to the live band they had playing outside.

Then, I headed home.  I had about 4 miles to walk to get home and I don’t know how I was thinking that was gonna be a good idea after a 6-mile run, but I managed.

Actually, I walked a half-mile, then slowly jogged a half-mile, all the way home.  That worked out to an average speed of 4.3 mph, which is actually more than fast enough to finish the marathon or the half-marathon without them rolling up the course behind you.

I got home and had a number of sedentary tasks to do today, and I promised myself a nap, too, but since it’s about an hour and a half before bedtime, I guess I won’t be getting that nap after all.