I forgot this one, very important. 
At this late stage, the only advice is to have fun with it - if you have trained then pace yourself, if not then run at a measured pace (whatever feels like running “slow”) for as long as you can, walk when you have to, run again when you can.
As far as the 10 minute mile thing, pure crap - 8 weeks off the couch and about 25 pounds down to get to about 6’/195 got me to a 31:40 finish in my first 5k. Continued running has me at about 6’/160 5 months after that and a 5k best of 24:50.
Until a couple of months ago, I hadn’t run since about 2004. My gf, now ex, runs 5Ks and half marathons and said something about me going on a training run with her. We ran 3.1 miles one afternoon and she was surprised that I ran 8-9 minute miles the whole time.
Now, I do ride 150 to 200 miles a week on bicycles, so I’ve got the cardio and I’m in pretty decent shape, but I hadn’t actually run in several years. My legs felt terrible for a couple of days, but I didn’t back down and kept her pace.
If the t-shirts are like the jerseys from organized bike rides, it’s not cool to wear the one from that year in that event. If you have older shirts or jerseys from that event, that’s cool though.
I read through that list and it was such a mix of satire and seriousness, half the time I couldn’t tell which was which.
The big one is “don’t wear a shirt for a race that you didn’t complete”. In particular, you haven’t completed the race you’re running right now.
I’ve been running for two years now. I’m aiming for a 8-8-7 or even possibly an 8-7-7 (23 and 22 minutes, respectively). Not that I’ve ever run timed my mile before, much less ran a 5k before. They’re just optimistic projections. I do know from shorter races that just by having a bunch of other runners around, I can run faster and longer.
And man, what’s up with all the attire rules? I’ll be running in these shoes tomorrow … are they a faux pas or a smash hit? Let me know what you think.
http://i.minus.com/idCtk3NMObYl4.jpg
And oh, they’re sunning on the roof because the laces glow in the dark …
And for God’s sake, pin the bib on your FRONT, not your BACK. I want to smack those n00bs every time I see one.
But when they collapse at the finish, it’s still within reach. 
Trust me when I say, those will be very understated shoes for a race.
Something like this:
http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-100701/pid-582064/pgid-665305
or like this:
Will be common.
If you can really run 7ish minute miles at most of the 5k’s I’ve been in you would place in the top 3 women overall (none with more than 200 people).
That’s pretty fast, IMO.
And I heartily endorse your shoes, but then I wear these, and I think my next pair will be these in green.
:eek:
You kids. I was wearing these back in 1980.
How hard do you guys laugh when you see someone with these at a marathon?
http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-682165/pgid-440311
On a side note, some Shox 2:45s would be sweet.
Most likely I’d only have time for a brief chuckle before they passed me and were out of sight. Shoes are shoes, I don’t have energy to worry about what others are wearing.
They passed you because they were faster or they were slower? :dubious:
I wouldn’t laugh at all ? All the olympic runners had on the colorful nike shoes just like that, it was one of the most successful product placements ever (and by a non-sponsor :))
I just can’t imagine running with 13+ oz. shoes. Color wise, I love them. Weight wise … max air technology is too long in the tooth and has been superseded by Lunarlon, Zoom Air, Cushlon, etc. My Dart 9s are around 10 oz for my size and I wish sometimes they were lighter.
I know my Dart 9s have pink laces but I’m a dude. 
Faster - I’m a pretty slow runner. But people wear whatever shoes they like, I really don’t see any point is criticizing the colors of athlete’s shoes. Who gives a crap, really?
See now pink laces on a man’s shoes, that I haven’t seen before in a race.
Seconded. Also the shirt and number fetishists. I know the shirt list was “tongue in cheek” (yeah, right) but that kind of elitism drives me nuts.