Maple Lake Irish Scamper 5k 2013

As the middle of March arrived, it was time for our 5th year of doing the Irish Scamper 5k. This year for the Irish Scamper was definitely the smallest group of people that we went out with. Back in high school (2006) we started going out to this 5k stemming from Kari Jo's Mom Patricia Langum. This race was Ryan, Tav, Kayla and my first running race and despite it taking place 45min+ away, we still find ourselves going back when we can.

Prior year recaps:
2006: my time (22:08) Group: Ryan, Patricia, Tavis, Kyle
2008: (20:16) Ryan, Tavis, Kayla, Kyle
2009 (19:11) Ryan, Andy, Kody, Tavis, Kayla, Chin, Kari Jo, Patricia
2010 (18:24) Ryan, James, Tavis, Chine Jaime
2013 (16:58) Ryan, James

I didn't have many expectations going into this race because lately, I have been trying to log more miles rather than get in much speed work. Ideally, it would have been helpful to do more interval training shorter distance runs but I am currently three weeks out from the Zumbro 50m trail race.

Traditionally before the race, we've had pizza and beer at Tav's, but this year with it being just Ryan and James, we had pizza at Broadway Pizza in Crystal and brews over at James house.

 Played some knee-hockey at James and Erin Haefs stopped over for a bit. Went to bed pretty late and got up with just enough time to wake up, eat breakfast and head towards Maple Lake.

Without having much of an idea of a pace I could sustain for a 5k, just figured I would start out running and adjust from there. I was a bit nervous before because of how different a 5k is from a longer race and how quickly you have to adjust your mindset.

 Wore the Nike Waffle shoes I bought in Hawaii as part of the Lance Armstrong costume because they are the only lightweight shoes I have.

*minus the spikes

Lined up at the start-line and the director gave us the go. Started off to the side of the main people up front and as usual people started out pretty quick and chaotic. Within 30 seconds a guy wearing a full green spandex suit was well ahead of everyone else (later to win the race) and probably 5 guys staggered in front of me. I remember looking down at my watch and seeing 5:14m/miles and not knowing if it was an error or not. Things felt fast so decided to slow down a tad into a pace I could realistically try to hold onto. There were two guys cruising pretty close together ahead of me and around the first mile I caught up to them and passed them after making a remark about the green guy in spandex. I was breathing pretty hard which wasn't something I was used to and was trying to keep the legs spinning. Could see the 2nd place guy about 15-30 second ahead of me but didn't dare try to speed up and try to catch him. Seeing the 1.5 miles on the GPS, I was a bit scared of not being able to hold onto the pace and at 2 miles, started to get a little burpy (perhaps from the "nutrition" from the night before). Made the second lap around town and tried to speed up a tad towards the finish line. Finished and in hindsight, feel like I could have left more out on the course, as there was no dry heaving after the race like previous years. Was pleasantly surprised with my times/splits and am excited to try and drop time on the 5k later on, perhaps another year at the Scamper.

*forgot to turn off for about 4 seconds after the race

 Saw Ryan/James finished and sneezed probably 25 times on the way back to the high school (always do that for some reason). Had the usual after race snacks and headed out after the awards.

Just the 3 of us this year

This race has been a fun tradition and always is something to look forward to in March.