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My first 5k of the running season was this past weekend. “Running season” in Michigan means “months normally without snow”. I know some people like to use treadmills to stay in shape when the weather conditions are uncooperative, but I am not one of those people.

Here are three of the thoughts I had during or after the race (I did have more than three total thoughts during that time – these are just the thoughts that might interest other people):

1. Include pavement on your training runs
   I do not usually run on pavement – my routes keep me on dirt roads. The problem was that the whole race (except for about 400 yards) was on pavement. I didn’t think anything of that until halfway through the race, when my shins started complaining. I should have gone on some pavement runs before the race, to condition my legs to the harder surface.
2. Good race organizers mark the miles on the course itself and on the map.
   I saw the race map ahead of time and guessed where the miles were. During the race, I was feeling fine as I passed the area where I had guessed the first mile to be. Of course, I saw the actual one-mile marker a little while later, which produced some disappointment in me. The same thing happened for the two-mile mark.

   And really good race organizers have the current race time at each mile. That helps those of us who do not run with watches.

3. Slow and steady wins the race
   unless fast and steady is also running.

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