State-Journal.com - Getting back on track

39:23:11

No, that’s not some secret code or a reference to the 11th verse of the 23rd chapter of the 39th book of the Good Book. It’s instead a 5K race time I’m not too excited about, but mine nonetheless so I’ve just got to live with it and work to do better.

A couple of weeks ago in the Sunday Spectrum section I wrote about my determination to get back to running after longer than I care to imagine on the curb watching others go by. I was inspired by photojournalist Hilly Schiffer’s account of her first 5K and I wanted to capture that exhilarating feeling again.

Well, I did - in 39 minutes, 23 and a piece seconds (the precise time is above) last Saturday in the inaugural “5K for 5K” sponsored by the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team. While my time was a good 12 or more minutes off my previously worst 5K (3.1 miles) sometime years ago, I achieved at least the two goals I had for the run:

Finish and don’t walk!

I finished 101st overall of about 190 participants and fourth in my “60-99” age category. (What an age spread! I should be good in that one for a long time to come!) Just finishing it was, supportive folks told me, something of an accomplishment since I’d only run twice the week of the run and a total of eight times in all of May and June, counting Saturday’s 5K.

I would have never advised anyone to undertake a 5K with so little preparation. Why I can’t even remember the last time I ran 39:23:11 with or without stopping, no matter the speed, let alone in the competitive atmosphere of a 5K.

Admittedly it was a recipe inviting the disaster of doing more than my body was prepared for, but my coach and long-time friend Judy Zeigler said I should be able to do it if I didn’t worry about the time.

Well, I did - and I didn’t!

I also got some good advice from Lindsey Dawson, one of our advertising folks here and an accomplished runner. She said to find someone who was going about my speed and work to keep pace with them.

That worked until my “pace person” ran off and left me as I kept getting slower! I then decided not to try to keep up with the young parents pushing their kids in baby buggies so I just paced myself - such as it was.

While I was plodding around and through UK’s beautiful campus, young Hayden Wilkerson of Our Town was in the process of winning the boys 14-and-under division with a time of 24:42.

His father, Lewis, and sister Emily weren’t too far behind him (in that order) and his mother, Kim, was a little behind me.

“I thought if you’d just walk some I could catch you,” said Kim, who’s a couple of decades younger than me. I told her I was sorry but one of my goals was not to walk while the thought certainly crossed my mind as I got slower with each mile.

My wife Susan, who signed us up for the thing thinking I could win some VIP Hoops tickets, walked some of the course and was there to record it all with her handy disposable camera. The only way I would have won any tickets would have been if the 100 folks who finished ahead of me would have elected to sleep late instead of run.

I have a baseline

Now I have a baseline (39:23:11) from which to begin my rebuilding. Something after the fashion of Florida’s great quarterback Tim Tebow who has a verse of scripture on his face and those folks who hold up “John 3:16” at athletic events, I may have a T-shirt made with “39:23:11” on it just to remind me.

Judy’s provided me a schedule for the remainder of the month that features a slow build up of speed and time. The other factor I’m hoping for is to shed a few pounds so I don’t have to lug them along the course too.

I hope to make my next effort Saturday morning’s Buffalo Trace 5K sponsored by and through the grounds of the beautiful Buffalo Trace Distillery on Wilkinson Boulevard. Registration begins at 7 a.m. (an unholy hour for a Saturday and a holiday) for those of you who haven’t signed up yet and the race steps off at 8.

On this page is a map of the course that snakes all over the place a couple of times to get in the required number of miles.

The Buffalo Trace folks are offering some big bucks for the top three male and female overall winners. I don’t expect to by vying for any of that prize money, however.

Angela Traver, publicist for the distillery, tells me they’re hoping for a good turnout from the town and surrounding areas. “And maybe that prize money ($1,000-$500-$250) will draw some big name runners in,” she says.

I don’t number among that elite cadre, but Traver tells me of one runner who might.

His name is Djuma Kisasu and he’s a refugee from the Congo and Saturday’s a special day for him, according to Traver.

“He and his family have been in the U.S. for three months. They live in Lexington and are being sponsored by a church there.

We believe he is going to be pretty competitive in the race and here’s the kicker … his birthday is July 4th!”

I’ll hope to get to meet this young man and perhaps shake his hand. Of course he’ll likely be on his cool-down lap around the course before I cross the finish line!

No matter, my goals for this run - if I do it - remain the same as last week: Don’t walk, finish the run and don’t worry about my time. I do have to admit I’ve run in some mighty hot Buffalo Chases across the years, some that even forced me to walk.

But at least at this point the weather looks delightful for Saturday morning, likely low 60s at race time which will be about 20 degrees less than last Saturday.
So, just to make it interesting, I’ll add one more goal: Eclipse last week’s 39:23:11, if even by just a few seconds.
I’ve committed that number – 39:23:11 – to memory; I just don’t want to see it again on the clock or my watch at the finish line.