Sunday, July 22

Cave runner

Here comes the hotstepper -- Ini Kamoze

That charming tune blared from speakers as I, rslight, waited for the start of Saturday's Run to the Sun 5K at the Kansas City Space Center. The underground race took place underneath the Space Center in a cave. Seriously.
I was under the foolish impression that a cave would always be pleasantly cool, but it was very hot and humid. I don't know how Batman can stand it.
The speakers also blasted the music from films "Superman" and "Chariots of Fire" before the start. It seemed like inspiration overkill for just a 5K race. The National Anthem (the American one) played, but I didn't see a flag. Hundreds of runners had a hand over their chests while facing different directions.

A very cute woman holding a stopwatch announced a 7:19 pace when I hit mile 1. I got excited thinking I could replace my 5K PR of 23:53.
When I passed the woman again on the second goofy cave loop, I could no longer discern her cuteness. Sweat poured into my eyes.
The clock was 24-minute something when I emerged from the cave to see the outside finish line. My heart fell faster than Enron stock (or my own company stock, the way things are going). I was too discouraged to attempt a killer finish. My time was 25:03.

Now you're getting impatient. You're wanting to know about rslight's second race this weekend.
I ran the Race for Hope 5k this Sunday morning at Corporate Woods, an attractive business park in Overland Park, Kansas. I wasn't sure how I would do since I stayed up real late Saturday hanging out at Country Club Plaza. It was a pretty course. No hills, but a couple of significant inclines and odd turns.
Stopwatch boy at mile 1 announced a pace of 7:32. I told myself to be cool. Don't do anything crazy daisy.
Stopwatch man at mile 2 announced 15:50. My legs weren't in pain. They weren't sore. But they felt a little heavy. Heavy enough that I had trouble turning on the juice and slipping under an 8-minute mile. Maybe it was just the experience of doing consecutive weekend races.
Stopwatch old man at mile 3 announced 23:53 ... yes, my 5K PR time. My final time was 24:56.
As I enjoyed my post-race chocolate bagel (Mmm ... chocolate bagel), I spoke with a miffed Kansas City Road Runners member who complained that the course was too long. He defiantly displayed his GPS watch. It was about 3.2 miles.

2 Comments:

Blogger MS said...

Wow, a cave run...I didn't realize there were any of those around other than the (now defunct?) Valentine Run at Springfield Underground. (I heard from someone they were doing a bunch of construction work this year and couldn't have it - hopefully it'll come back in the future.)

I decided to play with my calculator...assuming a constant pace, a 24:56 3.2 mile run equals a 24:09 5K. Not too shabby compared to your PR, especially when you raced the day before(!).

July 22, 2007 9:19 pm  
Blogger tangerine said...

Two races in one weekend? I salute to you. I went out for a run today after the 5K race on Saturday, and I could barely walk, let alone running another 5K.

July 22, 2007 9:59 pm  

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