On Feeling Awful and Awesome

"How are you?" "You looked like you were in pain?" "That was amazing!" "Way to go!" "Are you ok?" These types of questions and comments were plentiful this morning around 8:20AM. I was feeling awful...and awesome!

I had the privilege of running with over 1,000 other runners in the Red, White, and Blue Shoes 5K on the campus of Furman University this morning - July 4, 2024. It was hot, humid, and humbling. My goal for the last several years has been to run a sub-19 5K. My 5k races over the last few years have included times of 20:00, 19:28, 20:30, 19:49, 20:40, 22:35, 19:28, 19:37, and (just three weeks ago) 19:08. So close. Yet so far away.

I've been doing interval training with running buddies for several weeks to work on my speed at the 5K distance and felt pretty good for the race today, but not good enough to feel confident considering the course (some hills) and weather (hot and humid - this is July in South Carolina, after all).

This morning I woke up at 3:19AM and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and read a while and then did a slow 16-mile bike ride to warm up my legs. I had experimented with this approach in training and had better results with speed running after a similar bike ride than just starting with running. After the ride I changed into running clothes and drove to Furman University.

That's where the magic began. My friend and colleague Trenton ran cross-country in college for the BJU Bruins and offered to pace me to finish in under 19 minutes. I was very thankful for his offer. We walked most of the course before the race talking about the turns, elevation, and general strategy for the race. I had an GU energy gel 10 minutes before the race as some gatorade and then we took to the start line.

The race began at 8AM. The first mile felt great and fast. We completed the first mile in 5:45. The second mile around the lake did not feel as great and was not as fast - but we kept the right pace. The lake was scenic and helpfully distracting from the pain, if only a little bit. The third mile was awful. I wanted to stop. I felt like I needed to throw-up. But Trenton kept me going through encouragement...and some helpful screaming to motivate me to keep pushing. I heard people screaming my name as I ran by (the same people that said after the race that I looked like I was in a lot of pain....because I was in a lot of pain). Trenton kept running and encouraging and pushing. "Just one minute left!" he said as we neared the finish line. As we ran into the stadium we could see the timing clock at the finish line. It was ticking ever closer to 19 minutes. Just a few seconds left. I dug deep, tried to keep up with Trenton, and we crossed the finish line at 18:54. 

After the race I basically fell down and poured water all over my head to try and cool off. It took me several minutes to get off the ground and start to smile. After a while several other friends finished and we took a group picture of us all smiling together. It felt awesome. I'm so thankful for all the encouragement and help, especially from Trenton. He's already offered to help pace me for my attempt at a sub-18 5K. I'm going to take him up on it. Now back to training!