Alright gents. After 20ish years, I'm ready to race again. Very excited!
I started running again in December last year for the first time since 1994. The last time I ran, I went 17:05 for a 5K and really messed up my calf/hammy on the post race stretching. Things never been the same since and 1.5 years of PT back then did no good.
This time around, I've been going gentle and doing plenty of rest, ice, compression, massage. While I'm still very much aware that that part of my body is injured, pain is 0 when running once warmed up and pain is just a soreness later in the day of runs. I've been moving mileage up to 4 to 6 miles every other day and the calf has been just fine with this. This alone is a minor miracle to me and I'm stoked just to do a pain-free 4 miles at decent pace (!)
So Sunday will be my first race, a 5K. I know well enough by now to find my 1 mile pace, but I'm not quite sure what my 3 mile pace is. By pace, I mean what my body is comfortable with, I have no idea from a time wise what I'm capable of, so no time goals for this first race. This is like taking a vintage car on to its first highway after fixing it up for months. Should be interesting.
My first goal is to not get re-injured and I feel pretty good about knowing my calf at this point. Second goal is to beat my younger brother. I think by all rights, he should school me, but the aspiration is still there. We've both been on/off runners, both competitive, but never competitive at the same time. I'm hoping this is just the first of more races. Third goal is to not let any females beat me (in the race, that is).
In the end, though, I'm just happy to get out there. I always preferred 5Ks over longer distance races. I don't get bored during 5Ks and it feels more like a competition than a task, which I like, but this is just a matter of taste.