Tavern to Tavern VIRTUAL 5K (and practice triathlon) Race Report

The Tavern to Tavern 5K was supposed to be held on August 28th. It was a point-to-point race in Cambridge, MA.

From Central Square to Porter Square

I had never done a point-to-point race, so I was curious to see how I was going to get back to wherever I parked my car. I figured I’d take the train back to wherever. As it turns out, I didn’t have to deal with it. Hurricane Irene came barreling through and decided to wreak havoc on New England. Of course by the time it got to us, it was only a tropical storm, but the damage was done (no pun intended). They rescheduled the race for September 4th and after a barrage of rudeness from the people who were in charge of the race and a discussion of their lack social media marketing, I decided not to go. I had plans in NH for Labor Day weekend anyway, but I was toying with the idea of driving back down to Cambridge for the race and back up after the race. It would have been a 2-hour drive, but I was willing to do it since I had already registered, they weren’t giving refunds, and they were giving out medals to all finishers. You know I’m all for a good time, but it’s even more of a good time when there’s a medal involved!!

However, on their twitter feed, @Tavern2Tavern5K they made rude comments about people being upset about the reschedule date and used sarcasm to solve everything. They have since removed the offending tweets, but the damage was done. And a lot of people noticed. I can definitely say that I won’t be supporting their race next year. A sure-fire way to deter participants from coming back the next year is to be rude to them. Mission Accomplished, guys!

Although I didn’t go to the 5K today, I did my own 5K at the gym up here in NH. I did the time and I’d like my prize please.

Source

Hey Tavern to Tavern, will you mail me my medal? I was a finisher and I even have a picture of the treadmill after I finished to prove my distance and time.

See?

Contact me for my address. Thanks. You’ll get a much better review from me if you do. FYI.

Thanks for my t-shirt anyway.

Speaking of reviews, someone on my dailymile feed mentioned the race. He wasn’t very impressed. I’m not surprised. He said that the course wasn’t too well marked off. It started at Central Square, went through Harvard Square and ended in Porter Square. None of the streets were shut down and although some police escorts were at certain intersections, they weren’t at all and runners were running in the street at times! There were free beer, burgers and hot dogs at the finish, but there was no food or drink at the start. The water stations were concerned about running out of water early on and things weren’t very well organized. He said he had a good time and it was a good atmosphere and overall people were enjoying themselves. I guess I didn’t miss out on much.

In addition to my virtual 5K, I also did an hour spin class, which averaged out to about 20 miles. My legs were killing me!! Then, I went home, ate lunch and went to the beach with plans to swim a mile. I don’t know who put the crazy in my coffee this morning, but I certainly drank it all up!

I tried out my new tri shorts for everything today and was most curious as to how they would hold up during the swim. I also tested out my rash guard/surf shirt for the swim. I figured if all went well, I could wear it for the tri and not worry about changing clothes in transition. Due to the material, the shirt kept sliding up and wouldn’t stay in place. I tucked it into the shorts and that seemed to help. A little.

I only did 2/3 mile because my legs were cramping up and I was getting cold. Plus the sun had gone behind some darker clouds and I didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of the lake during a thunderstorm. Of course when I got out of the water and sat on the beach, the clouds went away and the sun was out full force. Instead of getting back in the water and swimming the rest of it, I sat in my chair and tried not to fall asleep. I figured I had done enough for the day and tried not to mentally beat myself up about it. I was also coming off of not working out for 4 days because I hurt my back (which by the way was completely fine today! No pain!).

When I first took off swimming, I almost sucked in a gallon of water when I gasped because there was so much drag on the waistband, it felt like they were going to be pulled right off me and I’d be mooning the whole beach. Hot stuff. Once I got across the lake, I stood on the rock and re-adjusted. I re-tied the drawstring as tight as I could and as I took off for a second time, it slid down and dug into my lower abdomen. Awesome. I wonder if the shirt wasn’t tucked in if it would help with the drag from the pants. It wasn’t so much of a drag that it slowed me down tremendously and it didn’t seem to affect my time, but it was enough that I noticed it and it felt different that just my bathing suit. Maybe I’ll look into a tri shirt during the next week to see what I can find, but if not, I’ll just make due with what I have.

The way I figure it, I basically did a triathlon today and everything worked out, so I’ll be fine next Sunday.