2008 Shamrock 5K

Last week, one of the supervisors in my new office walked by my desk and, rather offhand, asked me if I was planning to run the Shamrock 5K. I told him, rather honestly, that I didn't even know about a Shamrock 5K, so, um, no - I hadn't been planning on it. In a flawless bit of work-peer pressure, he tossed off, "Well, the 'T' group's doing it!" as he breezed away down the aisle. All I could do was mumble to my computer, "And if the 'T' group jumped off a bridge?"

Until he forwarded me the e-mail designating the 5K as an approved event for the "free" hours employees get 3 times a week for physical fitness. And dropped a sign-up sheet at my desk. This guy is clearly a peer pressure PRO. What could I do? I signed up. After all, it fit my training plan for today perfectly and would be a fun chance to run with a big group on an unfamiliar course.

Not surprisingly, this morning when I got to work the Excuse Squad was present in full force. The guy across the aisle from me forgot his running clothes. Another guy promptly said loudly that, coincidentally, he FORGOT his running stuff, too. Even Mr. Pressure himself was suddenly nowhere to be found. (I'm sure he was in a "meeting.") I'll be honest - I thought about begging off as well. I got to sleep late last night, I wouldn't know anyone, it's not like I had pre-registered or anything...

But it was REALLY pretty here today. And it was either run at 10:30 or run after work. So at 9:30 I suited up (in the downstairs bathroom, to minimize the odds of encountering co-workers while decked out in running tights.) and headed over to NSA Anacostia to register.

Anacostia, for those of you not lucky enough to know the Southeast quadrant of our nation's fair capital city, is NOT really a destination to speak of. It's kind of... well... you know how so many neighborhoods these days are "gentrifying?" Anacostia is the neighborhood that the gentry forgot. It's bounded on the north by the Anacostia river, which just MIGHT catch on fire if mildly provoked. When I first started working in DC, coworkers advised me, should I ever need to drive over to the base in Anacostia for a work errand, to RUN RED LIGHTS until I got back to the "safe" side of the river and deal with any cops then.

That said, the BASE in Anacostia is actually quite nice. The river is pretty as long as you don't get too close, the trees are JUST starting to come into flower, there's the excitement of frequent helicopter activity. And, more important to me given my plans included running, flat as a pancake. I drove onto base and headed to the parking lot near the fitness center where the race start was.

When I got there, there were a LOT more people than I expected. The Shamrock 5K was put on by the DC area MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) office, and... I didn't know that people actually showed up to those sort of things. Granted, there was lots of obvious "mandatory fun" - namely groups of active duty men and women geared up for some PT (Physical Training). One of the first things I heard was the unmistakable sound of a dozen voices counting off pre-run stretches. Fortunately, no one made me do any push-ups before allowing me to register. I paid my ridiculous $5 entry fee, received bib number 489 (almost 500 people at this dinky little race!) and then...

Stood around for half an hour. In the wind. Someone said that the "feels like" temperature was 32. I was pretty ready to go, especially when my toes started to feel a little numb. Soon enough, they herded us into a ragged group behind the start line. I took a position near the back (I thought) and chatted a bit with another woman as we waited for the start.

After a few minutes, I saw the first rows of heads start to move forward. That was the extent of our signal to "go." Maybe the people up front heard something more. Maybe they just got tired of standing around in the wind. As we started running, I noticed two things. (1) I wasn't just "near" the back. I was the back. I mentally prepared for a dead last finish. And (2) I was headed out just behind one of the PT groups - three columns of Navy sweatsuits running along in front of me.

And soon, yelling along in front of me. I forgot about running cadences! I first encountered them on the rare college days when I would be up early enough to hear the ROTC mids run and chant their way across campus. These days, I see the Army counterparts of today's running buddies head out most mornings as I drive to work. They seem quieter than the Navy guys. Anyway, running cadences are awesome - especially if you don't have to worry about yelling along and can just enjoy the humor and distraction.

The course was basically a lopsided figure-eight - we probably ran about a 2-mile loop, passed the start/finish, and then ran a second 1-mile loop to round out the 3.1. The first two miles just blew by. Before I knew it, I wasn't worried about finishing last anymore, because I started passing people - some of whom I KNOW started out well ahead of me in the pack. All around me, people were flagging, walking, arms up over their heads. I know their pain, but thankfully I avoided any semblance of a side stitch and kept running. I passed one couple, the man swearing that he just needed to walk and the woman harping at him to "just keep shuffling! Shuffle your feet!" She used his first AND last name "Joe Schmoe, you KEEP RUNning! No walking!" She must have been really serious, using both names like that.

Anyway, soon Mr. and Mrs. Schmoe were lost behind me, and I just kept following along behind the Famous PT Singers. I was disappointed in the last mile to have to stop to tie my shoe. Stupid shoelaces. Must. Double. Knot.

And then, it was over! I picked up the pace coming into the chute and was pretty happy to hear a time announced of 32:06. Yes, yes - that's not fast. But my goal was to hold over 11 min/mile, and that math is awfully easy. Good deal. (Later, I did the math and figured out that I actually beat my goal by 0:40/mile, which I was really excited about!) I walked a little, snagged a banana and a danish (I know, I know, but remember how I ALMOST didn't run? I was due a little reward!) and stretched out a bit before heading back to work.

Overall, it was a great experience. I will definitely run more of these MWR 5Ks in the future. They're fun, quick, easy and... did I mention the motivating power of the cadence? (Yes, Sarah, once or twice.) Also, $5 for the run, snacks AND a long-sleeved T-shirt? Granted, the T-shirts were leftovers from 2007's Navy 5 Miler, but it's a perfectly good shirt! PERFECTLY GOOD, I say! What do you want for the price of a Starbuck's Venti?

Good thing: I tweaked a muscle in my upper quad last Thursday, cut my Saturday run short by a third after it acted up again, but had NO problems with it today. Big relief.

Bad thing: Noisy feet and tight shins = something screwy with my stride. If it's bad after 3, it will be AWFUL during my 9.5 miles this weekend. Must figure that out.

Now, if I can just find a cooperative bunch of people in Navy sweats to run in front of me and yell cadences during the Cherry Blossom, I will be So. Set.