Challenge Aging 5K Report

Last night, Pharmie and I headed south to celebrate my Grandpa’s birthday along with 120 of his closest friends. We had to snap a photo of us with Grandpa before we took off:

Grandpa, I can’t believe you’re 80!! Happy Birthday!!

This morning, I got up and headed to another Charities Challenge race: the “Challenge Aging 5K” where we all celebrated everyone’s age. It was a pretty nice morning for a run, and I was hoping to PR. I got there, got registered, and took in the sights. Here’s Como Lake, which we were about to run 2 laps around:

Here’s the waterfall in Como Park:

Here’s the big fountain we all drove around to get into the parking lot:

And here was the starting line for the race:

I warmed up with just a short 1/4 to 1/2 mile jog, and about 1 block into it, my right side tightened up pretty bad. “Super,” I thought. I had a bad side-stitch, and the race wasn’t starting for 20 minutes.

Soon, I stripped down to the Bowl Full of Sunshine, and I was ready to race. Tom and I toed the line next to each other, Gary shouted “GO!” and we were all off. I was following the lead biker, which was nice because he would ring his little bell to warn people that a race was about to be coming past them.

Mile 1: 5:34. The first mile went OK, but I thought I had run it harder than that. I needed to hold that pace for a PR. About half way through the race, that stupid side stitch was back. And I was feeling it. It was already rough going for me.

We finished the first lap, and there were a number of people cheering at the finish line area. I waved at Gary, Coach Jeanne, and the other cheerers/volunteers. As I was running through, Gary hopped on the PA system, and was telling everyone about me: “Steve Stenzel just cheered last weekend at the Marathon in a chicken costume. And you’ll see him at other Charities Challenge events with his BVDs on the outside of his outfit!...” I think he said a few more things, but I had hit the other side of the pavilion, and I was off to tackle the second loop around the lake.

Mile 2: 5:59. Yep, I thought so. I knew I had slowed. My side was killing me. Bye-bye PR. Hello side pain. Dang. I tried picking up the pace during that last mile, but I was in pain. I did all I could to keep that pace. But I just kept losing ground. The “mile 3” marker was a welcome sight.

Mile 3: 6:18. Much slower than I wanted. Much. Slower. I was in pain. My right side was killing me. I rounded the last corner, and was happy to book it to the finish. I wasn’t going to PR, but my time was still respectable.

Last 0.1: 0:39. I waved at Gary (who was taking a picture of me) while I crossed the line. It had been a rough run. I was glad to be done.

Total: 18:29
1st out of around 70 (maybe?)
3rd personal fastest 5K

Within a minute after finishing, Tom (who started right next to me) came running through as the second place finisher. Nice job Tom! Then I went to go get a hot cocoa:

I went back to the finisher chute area to cheer for the other runners. I grabbed a photo with Gary and Jeanne (the 2 that put on these great Charities Challenge events):

I have my post-race sweaty boobs

About 30 minutes later, they had a “Kids 1/2 Mile Run.” Gary asked if any adults wanted to run with them. He looked my way and told me I could take photos along the way. Here are 4 kids just as Gary shouted “GO”:

And a few minutes later, 3 of them came blazing back towards the finish:

Nice run, kids!

Then there were awards. Gary said “All the winners are going home as bread-winners!” No, he didn’t mean a big cash prize. He actually meant bread:

And it was GOOD bread. I said goodbye to Gary and Jeanne, and I headed home.

As soon as I got home, I got to work making breakfast. Pharmie’s brother, Mike (AKA the Pig who cheered at the marathon last week), was coming over. It’s his birthday today. So we had 7 people over for a quick birthday brunch. Steph made scones. Matt (AKA the Cow) bought rolls. I made some sausages and controlled the “build you own omelets.” It was delicious. I fed all the others, and then got my chance to stuff my face. Here was my plate:

(Notice the Care Bear glass full of OJ)

Well, right now my side STILL hurts a little. I haven’t been lifting or doing sit-ups in the last few weeks because I’ve hurt my shoulder (more on that shortly). I think that lack of sit-ups really put me in a hole for this race: my core wasn’t used to working that hard in the last few weeks, and I’ve been missing ab workouts. Well, still a decent time at a quick little Sunday morning race.

I’ll have more photos shortly. Gary snapped a bunch, and he’ll probably have them up in a few days. Check back for more! Thanks for reading!