1:31:01 AKA The Incidental Runner

This past weekend was just supposed to be a relaxing long-weekend-cum-short-vacation.  We spent a few days in Hawaii, did all the touristy things, and met up with an old friend.  However, while on the tour bus, it came to our attention that there was a little event going on on Presidents' Day called the Great Aloha Run.  Apparently it was a big deal around those parts.  After doing a little research on it (mainly to determine the distance, since I was incidentally planning to do a long run on that day anyway), I said what the hey, why not?, signed up, and ummm... ran with it.

I finished the 8.15 mile course in 1:31:01.

I'm actually somewhat disappointed with my time.  Since I'm gunning for a 10K in a few weeks, i was hoping to at least finish this race in under 1:30.  Interestingly, my mapmyrun app reported that I actually ran a MUCH longer race at 8.61 miles.

I ran almost half a mile more.  Ridiculous!  I guess if i want to clock in better times i'm going to have to learn to run the tangents better.  I suspect that bathroom break around mile 6.5 didn't really help either.  Oh well.  Not bad, i suppose, considering that i did not prepare in any way, shape, or form for the race.  Not to mention the relative warmth and humidity.  Nor the upper respiratory infection i was nursing.  Nor the big tonkatsu dinner i had the night before.  Excuses galore!  Let's see how well i do on that upcoming 10K; hopefully i won't have to come up with any excuses for that one.

Here are some pics:

Hanging loose before the start of the race.  Despite my expression, i was not under the influence of any substance.

The requisite selfie at the starting line.  Kid, why are you photobombing me?

Close to the finish, i identified a photo op, and posed like a real runner.

Done!

Requisite selfie at the finish, in the Aloha Stadium.

A little bit of wishful thinking when i wrote down my time.  Oops!

29:44

This past weekend, i finished the 8th annual St. Joseph's 5K Fun Run/Walk for Wellness with a time of 29:44.

My goal was to reclaim my old "glory" and finish a 5K in less than 30 minutes.  I have my doubts about the course's distance, since my GPS watch informed me that I only ran 3 miles, but i'll just take them at their word.  Part of the problem is that there wasn't a clearly-demarcated starting line (that i could appreciate, at least), so i only turned on my watch when i arbitrarily deemed that i had "started" running.  Perhaps i merely waddled through the first 0.1 miles of the race looking for the starting line?  Meh.  These are the problems one runs into when the race doesn't use chip time.  

At any rate, my watch says i did 3 miles in about 28:27.  So even if i had continued to run another 0.1 at a 10-minute-per-mile pace, i would've come in at 29:27.  Mission accomplished!

Moving forward - i was able to do a "recovery" run the day after the race with minimal soreness.  Meaning, i think my overall level of fitness is continuing to improve.  I "should" be ready to run a 10k (and perhaps a "full" half in the next few months).

Onward!

At least i have pictures where i don't quite look like i'm walking anymore.

Dramatic finish!