Natchez Trace Festival

Penny loves this one and always wants to go. The Natchez Trace Festival. That's Kosciusko. I like it to.

I always liked the race. It used to be a 10K, but is now a mere 5K. It has taken me awhile to realize that 5Ks aren't bad. For one thing, the suffering is over in less than half the time. Another good thing about them is when you are minimally trained like I am right now, you can complete the thing and maybe even not be limping the next day. So you get a good workout, maybe place in your age group, and hopefully have some fun. I did all three.

The starting line. Notice the house in the
background. K town has lots of those.

Despite its reduction in distance, the Kosciusko race has remained true to its roots. It's a tough run. The first mile is downhill, the second is pretty flat, and the third is painful as you have to climb back to the start with two miles on you legs. When it was a 10K, it was two, two, and two miles. Besides the change in difficulty, for each mile the temperature normally rises and this time it went from 61 at the start to 73 at the end. Not bad, but that 73 did add to the difficulty of that last uphill pull. These splits testify of the course and the changing warmth:

Mile one - 10:08
Mile two - 10:31
Mile three - 11:21 (How do you spell suffering?)
Final sprint - 8:55

Those numbers are for average pace per mile. In the case of the first three, the average pace and the actual time are the same. Number four is the pace for the last .08. As slow it all was, it was, nevertheless, good enough for first in the 60 - 69 age group. One of the good things about getting older is that it is easier to place. I have outlived much of my competition. Now, if I can merely stumble across the finish line, I have a real chance at winning.

Nice medal. I spared you the face.

After the race, I did lots of walking. I even jumped into the Fun Run and blew through that at a blistering 12:51. Yeah, I was pretty much done. All in all, I ran and walked over 7.5 miles that day. 

The Johnsons showed up around 10:00, and we enjoyed their company. Penny did lots of shopping, I did lots of training, and I even ate ice-cream. I always buy ice-cream at this festival. There is always a booth where they make it on the spot.

When the day was over, I was whupped. Maybe next year I can go back in a little better form. Of all things that demonstrate reaping and sowing, running is the most profound. Sow sparingly, reap much in suffering. 

Thank you, Jesus, that I could shuffle today. I enjoyed it.