see brian run: Gibson Guitar 5k

Bill and Nancy picked me up and we rode downtown to the Gibson Guitar 5k. Bill works for MLGW so we were able to park in their employee lot, which was right next to the start/finish line. We arrive around 6:15p and wandered around a bit checking out the course and noticing that they changed it a bit from what the website had said. My attempts to figure out my pace at .5, 1.5 and 2.5 was out the window. At 6:45p I went off by myself for a slow 2/1 warmup. I arrived at the start line near Beale and Second streets at 6:58p so I think that I timed it pretty well. I had just enough time to do a few light stretches since my muscles were a little warmed up.

The race started promptly at 7pm and off we went running, in 90 deg temps. It took me about 40-45 secs to reach the start line in front of BB Kings Blues Club. I started my timer just I ran past the start line. We ran down Beale heading east, which is sort of a downhill start. It was very crowded and I could hardly move and just had to go with the flow, which was a bit slower than I wanted, but there was nothing I could do. I looked down the field and noticed folks already turning south onto fourth street. There were a lot more people than I expected.

After turning onto fourth the crowd thinned out a bit and I able to pick up the pace to where I thought I should be. I finally saw my friend Bill in front of me a few hundred feet before we crossed the 1 mile marker. I must've picked up the pace more than I expected because I passed 1 mile at 8:59. Immediately I thought to myself "I need to slow down". I slowed a bit then came up alongside Bill. He asked me "Where's my beer?" I said, "Where's mine?" He replied, "I drank it. I didn't want it to spill."

We ran over to Georgia street then turned West/Northwest onto Riverside which started a nice long downhill. I thought it would be one of the easier spots of the race but actually it seemed to be the hardest. I hadn't reached mile 2 yet and was starting to feel some pain in my Tibialis Anterior muscles on both my left and right legs. I usually start to feel this when I run at a pace that I have not been training, which I need to start doing some speedwork to work on these. Also, it was around 7:18p and the sun was blaring down on us from the east, which made it even hotter. I passed mile two at a pace of 9:36. I had walked 3 times for 30 secs each to ease my muscle pain so I was happy with the time. I thought that if I kept that up for the third mile or even a little slower I should still make my goal of crossing the finish under 30 minutes.

From Riverside we turned east onto Beale street and up the steepest, but shortest hill of the course. Right at the corner of Riverside and Beale was Nancy cheering us on. I waved and said "Hey!" Later she told me that I was the only person that didn't seem to be working hard and had a smile on their face. I told her it's because I saw and familiar face and appreciated the cheers, and that I knew that I was close to the finish.

At the top of the steep hill, on Beale, we passed the Memphis Orpheum Theatre. From there it was all downhill. I passed mile 3 at 9:41 for a total of 28:16. I wanted to fall down almost and lay there in the grass for an hour but I pushed with everything that I had. I knew that by my time I was going to be under 30 minutes, but now I wanted to get under 30 according to their "official" timer.

I passed the big red rooster and was on the final sprint towards the finish. I don't even remember what the "official" clock said my time was but I stopped my timer as I passed the finish line for a total time of 29:02. I was under 30 on the "official" but will have to wait and see in the results what the secs were. I went over and filled out my finisher's card (an index card with your name and age on it) and put it in the 35-39 age group. It was very crowded around there as I looked for water, as was everyone else. There was only one water table set up with two water bottles near the finish. This was no way near enough for over 1,500 runners. Very poorly coordinated in that regard. I never stop and get water at any of the water stops during a 5k but I was disapointed that there was only one stop at mile 2. Lots of people were complaining about this.

After I found Bill we went to find Nancy. We found Bill's Mom and Dad and Nancy then found us. She had a water for each of us, which meant that she must've had to have stand in that very long line to get water at the finish. She also stood in line to get us all a snowcone. I made the comment that Nancy was an awesome support crew and we need to bring her to all the races. I was joking of course but I am very appreciative of her helping us. Plus she drove us down there!

It was a fun race becuase it started and ended near Beale and Second and running or biking downtown is always fun. It was a big, hot, sweatfest and even with the heat I think that most people enjoyed the atmosphere. We didn't hang out very long. Around sunset we left and went home.