5K report; plus, Ira Glass as secret fitness weapon

The 5K I ran this weekend was an all-female race, which I appreciate. It made me wonder, though. Are there any all-male 5K races? And if so, where?

I rode my bike to the race start, about 3 miles from my house. I figured it was a good way to warm up my legs. The race start was in a city park and the route wound through one of the wealthier neighborhoods in town. The park itself has always creeped me out as it was the site of well-publicized and still unsolved murder of a female jogger many years ago.

I positioned myself in the back of the pack, and had to smile when I overheard one of the other women call herself a "shuffler". I had a feeling I'd be doing a fair bit of shuffling myself, too.

There were several women I recognized from previous races, mostly the "elite" local runners. This is nice, to start seeing familiar faces, to feel part of a certain sub-culture. They were all lined up front with their sleek running clothes and bodies. I knew they would all be done by the time I was approaching my halfway mark.

As expected, it was pretty hot already, around 80, when the race started. Part of the course was sunny and part was shady. There were some gentle climbs, but the course was mostly flat. A highlight of the race was that all the water stations and course turns were manned by male volunteers, many hot young (possibly teenage, may god forgive me) men. They were a treat for my eyes, that's for sure.

I struggled in this race. I had a side stitch, my running shorts were too tight, a voice in my head was whining a bit much. I didn't feel like I hit my groove until the last mile. At that point, I started pacing an older woman I'd noticed at the race start. She was petite and round, with tons of dimples all on her thighs. She was wearing a coordinated running outfit from BOA and I remember thinking a bit smugly about how great it was that there were runners of all shapes and sizes at this event, and that this particular woman was likely just starting out as a runner. I was feeling like this race thing was old-hat for me already.

Anyway, I'd pass her, she'd pass me etc… At one point I tried to make conversation, but I felt awkward and wondered if there's race etiquette about chatting up other runners.

I figured that coming into the race straightaway that I'd pass her, but when we rounded the curve and saw the time clock, she began to sprint! She hauled ass into that finish line, and the announcer called out over the PA system that she was the vice-president of the running club sponsoring the race. So there went all my preconceptions, blown out of the water. But now I know there's a cool club in town run by people who aren't all slim and elite.

So my finish time was 36:39, which is the slowest 5K I've ever run. I ranked 26 out of 34 in my age group and 177 out of 204 finishers. Not my best race obviously, but considering I have really slacked off on my training, I'm not surprised.

Does everyone else have beer after his or her races? I find myself shocked to see a keg at these early-morning races, but maybe I'm just a teetotaler. Besides, I couldn't drink and bike ride, could I?

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I have a new running partner, and he's famous (let me qualify that; famous in an erudite, gentle, NPR way). I expect him to lead me on into great things, into a new and intellecutal running frontier.

Last week I bought an inexpensive MP3 player and signed up for an Audible subscription. I now can download episodes of This American Life (hosted by my longtime NPR boyfriend Ira Glass. What? He's your airwave boyfriend too? Well, that's OK, I'm a modern woman. I can share), along with other radio programs and audio books.

So far, I've downloaded a NPR quiz show and episodes of an old time radio show called Fibber McGee and Molly.

My rule is that I can only listen to these programs if I'm exercising. So we'll see how this incentive system works. I think it will help, because I really love this kind of radio. It makes my brain work in a different way and is quite satisfying. I used to be addicted to This American Life, but have got out of the habit in the past few years of being able to listen to the local broadcasts. I feel like I'm rekindling a love affair.

Bestill my beating heart (but not long enough for it to mess with my heart rate monitor reading!)