Well, I kept my promise.
Despite my better judgment and without a lick of training, I ran in my first road race in 13 years on Saturday. After meeting up with Cape Cod Gal, who has been training for a triathlon this weekend, we took our places at the starting line. Normally I don’t put myself in the position of losing to a girl, but I knew just by looking at CCG that I was in for it. I haven’t seen her in a few months and by God is she JACKED! Any slim hope I had been maintaining of somehow beating her and pulling off the biggest upset since the 1980 Miracle on Ice went right out the window at that moment.
First of all, it was hot. Damn hot. And the race was 5.2 miles, with roughly 5.1 miles in the direct sunlight. I’m not kidding, there was no shade along the course whatsoever. I stayed with CCG for the first mile and then lost sight of her before we hit the 2-mile mark. I was struggling the whole way but I made up it up all the hills without stopping. But towards the end of the race I had to stop and walk a few times to avoid passing out and/or throwing up.
My goal was to finish in under an hour. I finished in 1 hour and 1 minute. That’s good for a blistering 11:40 pace. I won’t disclose CCG’s time but she beat me handily.
I was bummed at first for not meeting my goal. But the more I thought about it, the happier I became. I had done almost no training leading up to this race in the last few months. I’m overweight. And the weather was hot and humid as balls. But I made it. I came in 861 out of 952 runners. Usually that wouldn’t be something to be proud of, but for a fat guy who just randomly decided to run a road race in the middle of summer, I’ll take it.
But more importantly, I have the itch to run again. I used to run in road races all the time when I was younger, and now I want to get back out there and mix it up again. I like challenging myself and seeing if I can get my times down. But mostly I want to beat CCG because I hate losing, especially to girls! 
Wow this is definately a defeat, think about it, you just about made your goal – the time you wanted and had almost 100 people behind you!! KUDOs Daddy Files!!
Oh and by the way, how did your man boobs fair this time?!
860 people whupped your butt! And I bet CCG just lagged back for the 1st mile to make you feel good.
But I’m jealous … I would have been road kill in the first 100 yards.
I hate running. I don’t get the need to run, but it sure is good excersise. I would be proud if I finished a 5 mile race in under a day.
I’ll tell you this much… when you do something you DO IT. And your last blog post killed me too. So sad.
Dude, you did great!!! Could it have been any hotter???? My time was terrible!!!
How are your nipples today? I have some excellent inner thigh chaffing that has me looking like a burn victim!!! There are more races in September! Start training!
Wicked impressed Aaron! I agree, 861st place rocks!!!!!!
Still better than the Last Place that I would have been in.
There is a 5k race in September in Chatham on the water that benefits Dream Day on Cape Cod hosted by the Red Nun Bar and Grill if your interested
59′ and it was freakin hot… but I did enjoy the free beer after!
Just the thought of running 5+ miles in the heat makes me want to lay down and vomit. I can barely STAND outside on hot days, forget moving! So I’d say you did pretty great! I am thoroughly impressed.
Good for you! I’m impressed as hell! I can’t stand up in the heat, let alone run. You did great!