I thought that it might end up being hot, but the weather turned out to be perfect. It drizzled beforehand, but during the race it was overcast and cool. I still wore a singlet with my shorts.
I arrived an hour early and almost no one was there. I was surprised and kind of worried. I guess they don't get off of work until late. I was happy when I saw some of the fast guys from Runner's World. They are a little faster than me. I really was looking to run fast, but I certainly didn't want to win the whole race.
I did some fast pickups before the race, to get my legs used to the pace. I started on the front row, since I knew I'd be in the Top Ten. There was a good turnout.
I took off and it felt kind of comfortable. I was actually breathing pretty heavy though. The first hill kind of makes things tough. It does slow you down slightly.
I was in a tough spot. There was a lead pack of about 5 or 6 people. I knew that I'd probably catch some of them just by being consistent. I've seen one young guy run before and I didn't think he could break 20 minutes. I didn't want to kill myself early and I never intended on running quite all out tonight.
The lead 3 people or so pulled away. At least 2 of them were on the Runner's World staff. Some others slowed at the Covered Bridge and I think I ended up passing 2 people then. My friend Tim was there to direct people and he cheered me on. That definitely helped.
Mile 1 was shortly after that. My watch was slightly off from the course marking. I ran a solid 6:01 opening mile. That included some decent hills, so I was happy with that. I also wasn't giving my all. I was probably more at 90-95%. It was still a very good effort.
The course does have a few hills, but also a lot of flat and runnable sections. I actually was proud of myself for not looking at my watch until mile 1. Somewhere around 1.5 miles, another Runner's World guy passed me, along with another guy. I just tried to be consistent. With the fast pace, I was reminded of how much I hate 5ks.
I think I was in 8th place at this point. I passed another guy, as I felt good and picked it up a little. I then ended up passing the one guy that had just passed me earlier. Mile 2 had slowed me down with it only being a 6:09.
The last uphill nearly killed me. My legs were so dead. I was now up to 6th place. I was slowly gaining on this young kid. His family parked next to me and I talked to them briefly before the race. I almost passed him at the Robin Hood Bridge, but we went through side by side and I let him go ahead.
I was hurting a lot by now and just hanging on. I wasn't pushing as hard as I could've, but it was good that I didn't push any more than I was doing. I started to develop some minor side stitches.
Since I was so close to this kid, I decided to try to pass him in the final half mile or so. When I went by, I felt him pick it up and hang on my shoulder. I decided that it was time to use a veteran move. I had basically little left in the tank, but I sprinted like I would've done at the finish. If he could've hung with that sprint, I was toast. However, I figured that it would break him and it did. He slipped back.
I love trying tactics like that. They don't always work, but often they do. It's a fun way to demoralize someone. I figured that it would work on him. My only worry was that he was young and if he could stay close enough, he might outkick me in the end.
I pulled away and gave about all my breathing could handle. That last half mile was horrible. It was just so uncomfortable. This 3rd mile did improve slightly. It was a 6:07.
By now, I knew I was going to run under 19 minutes, but I also wasn't going to beat my PR. I ran hard in the final tenth, to finish it, but I didn't go into an all out sprint like I often like to do. Going into it, I figured I wouldn't PR. I was hoping to run under 19 minutes, so I was happy.
I ended up 5th overall. At least 3 of the 4 people in front of me were from Runner's World. This was a good workout. I'm not sure how I'll get any faster. I guess I need to do some little things and maybe work on running faster repeats too. My top speed is kind of at a plateau right now.
I ended up chatting with some people and almost forgot to cheer on my friend Heather at the finish. She ran pretty well and I was happy for her. After she took a brief rest and a drink, we ran a short cooldown together. It was great chatting with her and then socializing with a bunch of other people afterward. I enjoy the social aspect of these events. This actually tied my 3rd fastest 5k ever.
The 5k was my second run of the day. I ran in the morning with Kelley. We haven't run in over 2 weeks. It was a nice and easy run and good to chat about things. We ran at the Nor-Bath Trail. We started from Savage Road.
She was thinking we might not have to cross any roads. However, she was figuring the distance from her house, not from where we started. We safely crossed the road and got near Bicentennial Park.
We turned around at mile 2. The weather was pleasant in the morning, so it was very enjoyable. A few people were out, but it wasn't very crowded. It was nice to get back into the swing of things with her.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to run about 12 miles. I might go to Sand Island. I think there is supposed to be some rain. I'd like to run some repeats again on Friday. I want to work on getting faster. This week, I'm resting my body a bit.
AM Run 4 miles - 37:37 (9:25 pace)
Warmup 1.01 miles - 7:20 (7:18 pace)
Race 3.11 miles - 18:52 (6:04 pace)
Cooldown 0.85 miles - 7:54 (9:45 pace)
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