I feel very old today.

I feel very old today. Jennifer and I participated in the Midsummer Night's 5K race last Saturday night and I'm now feeling the after effects.

Doing a 5K in Austin in July is usually not a good idea. Luckily this one started around 9pm so it had cooled down to the upper ninetees. We did a leasurely 5K a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to do it a little faster than the 48 minutes it took me then. After all, I just blew some serious money on new Supernova running shoes and since I was going to sweat no matter what, I might as well work for it.

I started of with an easy stride and quickly left Jennifer in the dust (it pays to be taller). It felt pretty good for the first mile or so, but inevitable I slowed down and, in order to avoid a corronary, I had to walk for some time. I picked up the pace agains on a long downhill (running downhill feels good, but know you'll be paying for it when you have to climb back up). Turning around the corner on the downhill, I slowed down to a walk - knowing just how Dick Cheney feels when an attack is on its way - and picked up a coup of water from the 1.5 miles water station. The good news was that I was hlafway there and that I had an excuse (i.e. water) for walking. The bad news was that I had another 1.5 miles to go and I was at the bottom of a hill.

So I walked and walked and then decided to run a bit and then walked again and eventually I notice Jennifer jogging easily on my left side. Well, I expected her to catch up, and that she did. She jogged along at a steady pace while I lumbered up the hill. At the top I went running again (another downhill) and easily outdistanced her. She quickly caught up on my next walk up a hill.

And so it continued, me passing her while running, and she passing me while I was walking. The pain wasn't getting any less and my heart rate wasn't getting much slower (I peaked at 194BPM) but eventually the goal was in sight. We ran the last hundred yards or se and crossed the line hand in hand.

While walking it out and stretching, I knew that I was going to be paying for this. Yesterday I moved OK, although my quads were killing me on downhill walks or steps. Today I biked to work (and yes, you use them quads quite a bit while biking) and now I feel my quads and my hip joints. I feel like renting a walker for the next couple of days.

Jennifer, I hope you're happy!