This morning I was part of the 2010 5 Mile Road Race for the first time. It didn’t go to plan..

RunIt all started a few months back when Tanya asked me to raise some money for a 5Km fun run on Easter Monday (today). I’m training towards this distance for the sprint triathlons anyway but my calves have hampered my running. Then last Sunday Tanya’s husband, David told me it wasn’t a fun run it was the Whitehead 5mile road race but I thought I’d give it a go anyway.

Today as I was signing up I noticed a distinct lack of other fat bloke, at least at Sprint Triathlon you get a few. I lined up with the other competitors, including David Marshall and Dave Ramsey and when the whistle blew we all headed off, Dave up with the front runners and Dave and I slotting into the slightly slower runners. I settled into a nice pace and was feeling really good, despite the very hilly course my first lap (1.6Mi) was just over 13mins averaging about 8min/mile but just as I passed through the start/finish line my calf went. I limped round the course in a less respectable time just over 15mins (average of 9:40min/mile) and called it a day. David Marshall who hadn’t done any training did the same a few minutes later but the Dave ran an excellent race to finish the 5miles in about 34m30sec.

The Whitehead Easter Monday Road Race

I’ve a lot of work to do if I’m to have a chance of beating him at either of the two triathlons we’ll be competing against each other in. My first is this Saturday, so hopefully the ice / warm bath /ice I’ve had this afternoon will help it heal quickly.

As for today’s event I’m disappointed because I was feeling very strong round the first lap and didn’t really tire the pain in the calf just got to uncomfortable.