Run For Blood 5K (My Second Race in 36 Hours)

Thursday night was the Rice Street Mile road race.

Friday, I did a lot of yard work in my compression socks. Sexy.

Saturday was the Run for Blood 5K. It was the 9th race of the 14 race Minnesota Distance Running Association's (MDRA) "Grand Prix" Series.

Oh, and regarding doing yard work in my khaki shorts and black compression socks, here's a tweet of mine and a sassy (and absolutely true) response from Karina:

So Pharmie, Henry, and I pulled up to Lake Calhoun for the "Run for Blood 5K" about an hour before the race started. I first made a pit-stop:

Then I got my race packet, and I put my chip on my shoe as Henry played with his shovel:

Then we just HAD to get a photo with this guy!!!!!

Awesome.

I chatted with the normal "race buddies," and Erika even showed up on bike to cheer and chat. [We should have gotten a picture, Erika! :) Sorry!] Jeremy and I headed off to the starting line together:

At the starting line, between speedy Ben M (in the blue) and nice guy Omar.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO!!!"

The guy to the right with the nice legs is Scott, who I TRIED to catch at the Rice Street Mile on Thurs.
Pay attention... I'll be mention (and showing) him again. :)

I took off in about 10th place. Speedy speedy Ben M. was in front of me, and that would stay that way. Omar P. was just in front of me, and I know that I'm usually faster than him. Soon, I was in 7th (I think). Scott, who just beat me on Thursday at the Rice Street Mile, pulled up beside me and went past about a half mile into the race. "Steve, you said this 36 hours ago, but try to keep Scott close and then out-kick him! You didn't do it at the Mile... can you do it now?"

Around the 0.7 mark, we caught some of the "quarter marathon" runners who started 15 minutes before us (there were nearly 300 of them). Soon, it became all about dodging the runners we were passing. Fun times.

• Mile 1: 5:35.84. "Nice pace. But this speed won't last... Oh, and here comes a hill... Super."

I had gone out at a pace that I couldn't sustain, but it wasn't TOO fast of a pace where I was going to die. It was just about right. I started to pass someone on the slight downhill (seen in the photo above with the du-rag in the red), but he caught me as soon as we leveled out.

Erika biked over to about the half-way point and saw me dodging some quarter-marathon runners at a water stop. I had to pop up onto the sidewalk for a few strides, but then I was back at it. Scott was under a block in front of me, and there was just that one runner between us.

• Mile 2: 5:47.72. "Yep, a bit slower... it's now time to suffer!! Work through it!!

I passed the guy in front of me at this point. Scott was the next runner in front of me, and I was going for him!!! (Again, as I pointed out in my Rice Street Mile race report, I'm not OVERLY competitive, but being Scott and I are both doing the Grand Prix series, he's a good "rabbit" to shoot for in order to get as many series points as possible. It's all for fun!)

I started doing what I always figured I'd do if / when I got a Garmin: I started looking at it ALL THE TIME to see how far I had left because I wanted it to be over. "OK, 2.5 miles: just over a half mile. OK, 2.6 miles: just a half mile left. OK, 2.75 miles: just over a quarter mile left. OK, 2.85 miles: just a quarter mile more." I'm not exaggerating. I really looked at it that often (more, actually), and had those thoughts in my head. I was toast as I was trying to catch Scott and hold off any other runners behind me.

• Mile 3: 5:43.93. "There's the finish. Thank God."

Pharmie got 1 last photo before the memory card filled up on my camera. She didn't know it at the time, but Scott was in the foreground of that photo showing the distance that I just could not make up:

Scott........... then me.

Eight seconds. That was how much Scott beat me by. Here's a close-up of me in that last photo as I was heading to the finish line:

Covered in sweat and water and disappointment. (Not really that last one.)

Unofficially, I had 17:47.88 for 3.12 on my Garmin. (Mile splits of 5:35.84, 5:47.72, 5:43.93, and 0:40.36.) My Garmin read a bit long because of having to dodge people and having to be off to the right of big groups while slowly curving left around Lake Calhoun.

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

Steve Stenzel, 31, M, St. Paul, MN

17:49
5:44.1 / mile pace
7th out of 428 total
3rd out of ?? in the 30-39 age group

Looking at the results, 8 of the top 16 finishers were MDRA Grand Prix racers. Grand Prix members finished in 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 16 out of 428 overall!! Solid showing!!

(That's "former student Jeremy" there in 16th, and he did that "naked" because he forgot his watch!)

I walked back to Erika, Pharmie, and Henry, and I got a cute photo of my family:

Henry stood and cheered for the runners! Really! He clapped and yelled!

And then he got to meet some Minnesota Vikings' Cheerleaders!!!!!

He's totally unimpressed. Or just playing it cool. I don't have him totally figured out yet.
(And yes, that's a big bruise on his head. He's such a clumsy walker!)
(Oh, and Henry NOW has a "lucky elbow"... if you know what I mean...)

I wore my compression socks around the house a few hours after the race and tried to take it easy. My legs REALLY weren't THAT tired from the mile race followed by the 5K 36 hours later. But I know that's setting myself up for injury, so I'm taking it easy this week!

Back with a sherpa report from Pharmie's Waseca Triathlon yesterday in the next few days (along with her brother and brother's girlfriend). And a giveaway soon, too! Happy Monday!

p.s. If you missed Saturday's post which was my Rice Street Mile race report, scroll down or click that link. Thanks!