Running Naked in Rockville

I felt like I had nothing on during last night’s Rockville Twilighter 8k --- exposed, vulnerable, totally out of sorts. I was fully clothed for the race --- shirt, shorts, socks, shoes, timing chip, but I was missing something critical for all runners, a watch! The running watch is the lifeblood of every runner, about as important as shoes and socks, key for monitoring progress in a race and a major determinant of race strategy and tactics.



As I approached the starting line to begin the race last night, I looked at my left wrist to zero out the chron setting from the previous day’s run, and there was nothing on my wrist. Zip. Zero. Nada. What a blunder! At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. How would I be able to monitor my progress? How would I be able to keep an even pace without knowing how long I was running for? How could I forget this most important tool? Panic set in. This was going to be a difficult enough race with a watch --- 95 degree heat, high humidity --- running at a realistic pace is crucial in these types of conditions.

The first two miles went by with relative ease, and as I settled in and pushed through mile three, I looked at the race clock that is stationed at every mile and realized I was going too slowly, so I stepped on it and logged the last two miles in 16 minutes, much faster than I’ve run in a long time. As I approached the finish line and saw the big race clock overhead, I realized I would easily beat my goal of 50 minutes. As it turns out, I finished in a little over 43 minutes, much faster than I had planned to run. My legs felt fine, I was tired and my shirt was soaked through from the humidity, but otherwise I felt great. I survived running without a watch and probably did better than if I had worn one. Does that mean I’m going to ditch the watch in future races? Not a chance, but it worked out well for me last night and it’s just another strange twist and turn in my recovery from ankle surgery and return to running.