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A Good Day for 5K in Chapel Hill
The photo above was taken at last year's 5K. I added it to my journal entry because yours truly is there! I'm the one in dark blue to the left, sunglasses, looking at the map.
This year's 5K was different: more participants, and the temperatures were warmer, so most folks wore shorts today.
And what a delightful day it has been! The sun shined, I walked, I watched my son, I browsed at Borders, I replied to some emails and visited journals, leaving comments, and I took a nap. A glorious hour of plain, old-fashioned napping.
The Aging in Stride 5K, sponsored by the Geriatric Interest Group of the UNC School of Pharmacy was today in Chapel Hill to benefit a seniors center. I estimate there were 100 participants, most of them college age to 30 something. Maybe there were ten folks between 40 and 50, and possibly another ten older than 50.
My son explained the cautions of the route we were to take (road construction just ahead), the 5K people set up throughout the route to make sure we didn't get lost, where the water table was set up, and so on. When we got back, there would be prizes for the runners in first, second, and third places, in men's and women's categories, as well as in the older categories.
I wasn't interested in the prizes, in coming in first second third place... I just wanted to come in.
A 5K is 3.1 miles. In Chapel Hill, it's more like a 5 mile walk/run because of the hills. The town is aptly named, hill being the key word. Why didn't they name the town Chapel Hills?
I knew no one there, except my son and his girlfriend, andhe was the organizer, so he didn't walk. His girlfriend is a runner/ walker, so I didn't see her after Steven called "RUNNERS START!"
I stepped aside respectfully to let the athletically inclined get their start, for they would be competing for the time-related prizes. I pulled in behind them, in full power walk with bent elbows swinging.
I kept this pace up for, what... the first five minutes uphill? Then I began to talk to myself... pace yourself, girl. You remember how to power walk. The breathing is much like the breathing you do during labor. I knew how to do that. I continued the pace, feeling pretty good during the first 20 minutes because I was amongst a group of people. We were the last group of people, but we were a group.
Then the group got ahead of me. They were talking to each other, one was pushing a three-wheeled power stroller with a kid in it, and they passed me. That's okay, I thought, I can follow them.
Ten minutes later, they were ahead of me by some 30 feet, but a stop light slowed them down when they had to wait to cross the street and I caught up with them. When we could safely cross, they quickly moved ahead of me again. I let them. I'm not one to say "hey, wait for me!" Not one of them turned their heads back to "see if the older woman behind us is still with us." That could mean they didn't notice that I was older, so I felt better after that thought.
I didn't mind as long as I could see them: an older couple, their daughter, her friend, and the woman pushing the stroller with the kid in it. If they were a mile ahead, and I could see them, I would be fine.
I was doing okay, just walking it alone. I had my cell phone with me, and a map of the route. I finally reached the half-way point, about where the water table was set up. I didn't need any water, though, because I was carrying my own bottle of water. The young lady standing there assured me that I was on the right track when I asked her if I was going the right way. Such nice people, these UNC students. With my water bottle in one hand and the cell phone in the other, I had extra weights to help burn extra calories. <grin> I was feeling good... healthy... involved... alive.
At Gimgil Loop is where I lost sight of my group, the one I had started out with. The loop is one huge curve. I couldn't see anyone ahead of me, and no one behind me. I didn't mind because it was such a beautiful day, and I was dressed comfortably for it. The mockingbirds were singing, there were the brightest red-purple berries hanging on some of the bushes, and dried acorns were dropping from the oak trees like heavy raindrops on a breezy day.
The old homes and yards on that part of the route were well kept. It was a quiet neighborhood, not even barking dogs. The appearance of an old church I recognized from last year, one I thought could be used as a bathroom stop in an emergency, shocked me... it was in the process of being torn down, and all that remained today was stripped grey concrete walls. I remembered when I first saw it last year and had thought it a quaint country church in the middle of a college town. I had rather liked it's antique look. Next year, though, it will be an empty lot. Or maybe something else is being built there? I don't know.
My brother in Georgia called me about this time on my cell to tell me that his son is getting married in three weeks. He could hear the heavier breathing in my voice as I was vigorously walking, alone, in that nice quiet neighborhood. He asked me what I was doing, jogging? I told him I was walking in a 5K and he said, good, walking and talking is good for you, and he continued to chat with me. I told him I was bringing up the rear of this race and he laughed, and let me go so I could save my breath for the walking. My thoughtful younger brother.
Then I called my son to tell him where I was and ask if they were drawing names for the raffles and announcing race winners yet. He said no, they would wait for 45 minutes or so. I told him I thought I was the last person, that I couldn't see anyone, and he chuckled. I heard him say "My mom's on Gimgel. She's the last one, she doesn't see anyone." The information helped them determine how long it would be before I came back to the finish line.
Once I crossed back onto a main straight road, I clearly knew that I was way behind. I could not see another walker ahead of me as far as my eye could see. I had to look at the map to see which wayto go. Should I turn right on South Street and head back to where I started (a shortcut), or cross over and keep going straight to finish the 5K route?
I called my son on his cell. He said it looked like most everyone was back, and told me that there was nearly a mile of the walk left from where I was standing. He said I could finish it if I wanted to, or turn right there on South street and come back to where he was.
I didn't want to make them wait on me longer than they had to, and I thought two miles was a good walk. If I counted the half mile I had already walked from the parking lot to the starting line, and the half mile back to my car after the race, then I had really walked three miles today. So I turned on South Street and headed back to the starting place. A few minutes later, the group that had preceded me walked in. Had I continued the walk, I figured it would have been another 30 minutes before I eased in.
The prizes were given to the young men and women in shorts with the leanest and strongest thighs. I wasn't jealous of them, I was happy for them, for their youth, for their health and their fitness. For the beautiful day we had for the event, for the little toddler I saw climbing into his stroller to get his sippy cup for a drink, for the young couple and their black lab on the leash, and for everyone's charitable attitude (after all, the entry fees were going to benefit the older citizens of their college town), for my son who organized the 5K, and all the Pharmacy students who helped him. It was a good day to walk.
I picked up my T-shirt, which I had requested in a small size so I could use it as a prize in my classroom. My students love Carolina. For me it's a t-shirt to wear around the house. For them, it's a special honor to have a Carolina tee.
After I said goodbye to my son, who was still in organizer/director mode, and very busy attending to the details of wrapping things up, I left. I drove to Borders and browsed for probably two hours, bought some books for my classroom, ate lunch at Wendy's (it was 1:00 by then), came home, answered some emails and journal alerts, then took a wonderful hour-long nap.
It has been a very nice Saturday indeed. Thank you Steven and all your UNC GIG colleagues for making the 5K possible. My legs are just a little sore, but that feels good too.
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I was breathless by the end of your walk. My husband's niece's husband is the baseball coach at UNC.
http://journals.aol.com/magran42/FazeDaze/ -
good job Bea! Im rpoud of you!
love,nat -
I hope someday I can walk in a 5K. 22 minutes on a treadmill today had my pulse up over 150. It will get better, right?
10/2/06 8:24 AM
Lori
http://beta.journals.aol.com/