I knew the kids would set too fast of a first mile for me. Therefore, the plan was to lay back and take it easy early on. I felt like I was doing that and in the first quarter mile the pace was under 7 minutes. It was crazy. I was just shooting to go under 8 minutes for the whole race. Even though I didn't feel I was going fast, I backed off even more.
The first mile was definitely very comfortable. I had a pretty good warmup and I think that helped a lot. I never used to warmup much, but I'm doing that more and more now. Even after backing off, the first mile came in at 7:35. It was definitely much faster than I had hoped for.
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| Me At the Beginning of the Race |
There was a young girl in front of me. Her pace seemed good, so I tucked in right behind her. We were right around an 8 minute second mile. I followed her and focused on her behind. Maybe I shouldn't admit that, but it is a good way to be pulled along in the middle of a race. There's nothing else to really look at anyway and you have to stay focused straight ahead. Good thing it wasn't a guy right ahead of me. The benefits of being slow (by my standards) at this point I guess.
I actually hit a mile and a third and wasn't feeling very strong. My legs were feeling the early fast pace. I stayed behind the girl and eventually an older women passed me. I did notice her shoe was untied. I should've said something, but didn't. She ended up stopping to tie it later on and I passed her. She passed me again shortly after that.
Eventually the younger girl that I was following was just slipping too much. The second mile ended up being a pedestrian 8:10. I couldn't let the pace drop much below that, especially since I still didn't feel like I was running all that hard. I decided I had to pass her and pick up the pace a little.
Somewhere just after mile two, we started hitting the downhill portion. I stopped for some water there right before Easton Avenue. Both of those factors helped. I began cruising downhill and suddenly the run felt like a piece of cake. The recovery second mile allowed my legs to start coming on. I was still behind the older women, but I stayed about 50m away at all times. I gained on two younger kids and passed them during this stretch.
I was thrilled in the last two miles as my overall pace started out at 7:57 and kept going down. Before I knew it, it was 7:52 and down and down it went. I kept pushing as I was getting closer to the finish, but I didn't want to go too hard, unless I had to. No point in killing myself this early on in training.
I was feeling so good that I ended up cruising by the older woman. That got her attention as she picked up the pace and passed me back. We then passed an older gentleman too, just before getting to Liberty.
I could see Liberty in the distance, but I knew we still had to go part way around the school and about 300 meters around the track. My time was dropping under the 7:50 at this point and I figured I would just cruise home.
Near Liberty High School, I passed one of Freedom's top female runners. She had been way ahead of me. She must've collapsed or nearly collapsed because she was being carried on the sidewalk. She was the same runner than collapsed at the end of the Freedom vs. Nazareth cross country race. Not sure if there is something wrong with her or if she doesn't know how to run or hydrate properly, but it is scary to see someone do that twice in one year in short races. She did recover and eventually finish, so that was good to see.
As I entered the track I realized that I either didn't run tangents well (which would be odd for such a short race with few turns) or the course wasn't accurately marked at four miles. I looked at the clock and thought I might not make it in under my goal of 32 minutes (an 8 minute pace). My actual pace was well ahead of that, but I had run farther than four miles.
I put on the killer finishing kick as I usually do. Around the final turn, I ended up coming up on a kid that couldn't have been more than 10 or 12 years old. I said, "good job." He turned around and I guess I surprised him because he started sprinting. I was already in sprinting mode and he had no chance anyway. I wasn't racing him, I was racing the clock. I felt kind of bad because I saw him right before the track and thought maybe I could pass him and pace him in and then let him finish ahead of me. The clock was just too close for for comfort though.
My watch time was 31:49 for 4.1 miles and a 7:45 pace. That was significantly faster than I thought I could run. My official time was 31:50 and 47th place overall. I was 4th in my age group. That was actually good. I don't care for getting awards when I'm not anywhere near peak condition. It just doesn't mean much to me. The great run itself was reward enough.
Although my splits kind of look awful, I ran the race just how I wanted to. I started off faster than I would've liked, but I recovered and finished strong. The weather was perfect too and that led to a big part of my success. I'm just so amazed at where I'm at right now. I came through the 5k at under 24:30. When I ran my first 5k last July in that comeback attempt, it was over 25 minutes. If I take out my slowest mile, the rest of the 5k I ran in 23:40. I think that is even faster than my time at the Blue Eagle 5k in the beginning of August last year! That is crazy!
I'm starting to think that being healthy is a big reason for such great progress. My first time coming back in 2009 I was overweight and out of shape. Last year was my second attempt and I ran even though I wasn't healthy. I was also giving myself Humira shots and that was draining my energy too.
I'm so excited at where I'm at and where I'm going. I ran better than expected and didn't even push too hard. I actually ran harder on my group run on Thursday night. I just hope they don't find anything with my upcoming surgery and that I'll be able to run again shortly afterward. If not, I'll do what I can to get back when they fix me. I want to be in the best possible shape at that point, so I lose as little fitness as possible in case I have to make another comeback.
One of the guys from the Breakfast Club Runners is holding a "Pancake Flat 5k" tomorrow on South Mountain in Bethlehem. I wasn't sure if I was going to run it or not, but the soreness right now is a minimum, so I should be in. It isn't flat or merely a 5k though. It is not only on the mountain, but a minimum of 5 miles and possibly 12 miles or more for those that feel up to it. I'm excited because there are a lot of unmarked trails to run up there. I never got a chance to run there and explore the area last year. I look forward to it and hope to add that to my training as well.
Watch: 4.1 miles - 31:49 (7:45 pace)
Official 4.0 miles - 31:50 (7:57 pace)
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