Running For the Law
... a mile by mile account of my first official running race.
Boston's second annual "A Run to Remember" race in honor of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty took place today. A few of us in the SDM '06 class decided this would be a good team-building activity and registered to run the race. Team-building or charitable goals aside, I've never run more than 3 miles in my life, so my main motivation was to score a personal best in distance AND time. You see, official race results (collected with a super-high-tech timing chip) will be stored in perpetuity somewhere on the Internet and they'll haunt me forever. Next time someone will Google me, those results will be the first to show up and it wouldn't look good if it took me 2 hours to run a 5 mile course, would it? The stakes were high!
So, there I was on a crisp, beatiful March morning, sitting at the starting line with the timing chip planted on my foot, bar code pasted on my leg, high on sugar and caffeine, feeling like a super-human android; ready to run my first official race.
Mile 0.0 - just as the race was about to start, I had to take a leak so I split from the group and made my way to the port-o-pottys. Shoot! I was already starting late! But that was ok, my super-high-tech timing chip was going to record the net running time, not the gun time.
Mile 0.1 - I'm running, it feels good. I'm passing people. Yeah, this is great!
Mile 0.5 - the first hill. I hear groans behind me. I have no problems. I'm just gaining strength. Wait, what is that? A jdate.com ad? I'm wondering if they let non-jewish people join.
Mile 1 - entering downtown Boston. This is really my second time in downtown Boston (during the daytime, at least) and what am I doing? I'm running. How can I enjoy the beautiful historic sights? Mental note: I must come back when I'm not in such a rush.
Mile 1.5 - the first water station. Nahhh! Don't need it yet! I must not break my pace. The street is littered with trash now. Someone needs to invent a better hydration system that produces less waste. If I fail PDD class and have to take it again, this will be my next idea.
Mile 1.9 - spit on the road. What?! Women are spitting? I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not very nice. I keep my mucuous substances in check.
Mile 2.5 - the first race fans show up on the sidewalk. I'm looking for signs that say "Go, Sorin, GO!". No luck. What happened? Where's the cheering gallery?
Mile 3.0 - Beginning un-explored territory of my physical strength. Will my legs last for another 2 miles? No problems so far. I'm still running strong.
Mile 3.2 - Yes, first chance to take a short-cut and reduce my time. Nahhhh, let's not cheat!
Mile 4 - I'm feeling great! I'm passing people! I have a chance to win this race. I know it! All these people ahead of me are running the half-marathon race that started earlier.
Mile 4.5 - I hear the music at the finish line. My moment of glory is getting closer. I'm picking up the pace.
Mile 4.7 - I turn the corner and see the finish line. If I could only pass these two runners in front of me, I'll be the winner. I'm running as fast as I could. I don't feel my legs anymore. I imagine myself being crowned the winner; wreath on my head, gold medal around my neck, waiving at the adoring crowd below me. The greatest 5-mile racer ever.
Mile 4.999 - What? Someone's trying to steal the victory from me. That can't be! I lunge forward. I make it! I win!
What does the race time say? It took me 45 minutes to run? Ah, that's great. But wait... There are the official race results. I can't believe my eyes! There were some 700 people ahead of me!? I must've entered a time-warp because I surely felt I was the winner.
All in all, it was a great time. I really enjoyed the race and the company (thanks to Serge for his smooth organizing). After the race I split from the group and walked back home taking a circuitous route through historic downtown Boston. I treated myself with a big pasta lunch and 2-hour powernap afterwards and when I woke up I realized I'm just an average human being: official race results - 44:18.
Boston's second annual "A Run to Remember" race in honor of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty took place today. A few of us in the SDM '06 class decided this would be a good team-building activity and registered to run the race. Team-building or charitable goals aside, I've never run more than 3 miles in my life, so my main motivation was to score a personal best in distance AND time. You see, official race results (collected with a super-high-tech timing chip) will be stored in perpetuity somewhere on the Internet and they'll haunt me forever. Next time someone will Google me, those results will be the first to show up and it wouldn't look good if it took me 2 hours to run a 5 mile course, would it? The stakes were high!
So, there I was on a crisp, beatiful March morning, sitting at the starting line with the timing chip planted on my foot, bar code pasted on my leg, high on sugar and caffeine, feeling like a super-human android; ready to run my first official race.
Mile 0.0 - just as the race was about to start, I had to take a leak so I split from the group and made my way to the port-o-pottys. Shoot! I was already starting late! But that was ok, my super-high-tech timing chip was going to record the net running time, not the gun time.Mile 0.1 - I'm running, it feels good. I'm passing people. Yeah, this is great!
Mile 0.5 - the first hill. I hear groans behind me. I have no problems. I'm just gaining strength. Wait, what is that? A jdate.com ad? I'm wondering if they let non-jewish people join.
Mile 1 - entering downtown Boston. This is really my second time in downtown Boston (during the daytime, at least) and what am I doing? I'm running. How can I enjoy the beautiful historic sights? Mental note: I must come back when I'm not in such a rush.
Mile 1.5 - the first water station. Nahhh! Don't need it yet! I must not break my pace. The street is littered with trash now. Someone needs to invent a better hydration system that produces less waste. If I fail PDD class and have to take it again, this will be my next idea.
Mile 1.9 - spit on the road. What?! Women are spitting? I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not very nice. I keep my mucuous substances in check.
Mile 2.5 - the first race fans show up on the sidewalk. I'm looking for signs that say "Go, Sorin, GO!". No luck. What happened? Where's the cheering gallery?
Mile 3.0 - Beginning un-explored territory of my physical strength. Will my legs last for another 2 miles? No problems so far. I'm still running strong.
Mile 3.2 - Yes, first chance to take a short-cut and reduce my time. Nahhhh, let's not cheat!
Mile 4 - I'm feeling great! I'm passing people! I have a chance to win this race. I know it! All these people ahead of me are running the half-marathon race that started earlier.
Mile 4.5 - I hear the music at the finish line. My moment of glory is getting closer. I'm picking up the pace.
Mile 4.7 - I turn the corner and see the finish line. If I could only pass these two runners in front of me, I'll be the winner. I'm running as fast as I could. I don't feel my legs anymore. I imagine myself being crowned the winner; wreath on my head, gold medal around my neck, waiving at the adoring crowd below me. The greatest 5-mile racer ever.
Mile 4.999 - What? Someone's trying to steal the victory from me. That can't be! I lunge forward. I make it! I win!
What does the race time say? It took me 45 minutes to run? Ah, that's great. But wait... There are the official race results. I can't believe my eyes! There were some 700 people ahead of me!? I must've entered a time-warp because I surely felt I was the winner.
All in all, it was a great time. I really enjoyed the race and the company (thanks to Serge for his smooth organizing). After the race I split from the group and walked back home taking a circuitous route through historic downtown Boston. I treated myself with a big pasta lunch and 2-hour powernap afterwards and when I woke up I realized I'm just an average human being: official race results - 44:18.
posted by sorinescu at 6:26 PM
2 Comments:
Excellent blog entry =)
And trust me, nobody wants to be on JDate...not even the Jews...
Awesome blog dude! its great to know you've pushed your distance limit further,... next uo will be a 10 mile run, so there's more records for you to break ! keep running !!
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