Have not felt particularly speedy lately so I had my reservations about racing this one. Ashton and Becky both ran the 5k so I considered running with them but realized I had to face my fears and run hard. Warmed up with 2 miles and felt pretty good. There was a problem with the timing system so the race started 15 minutes late. I was anxious and ready to go so it was a bit annoying having to wait. My Garmin was dead so I was going to be running this one naked. Not thrilled about it but didn't have much of a choice. The race finally started and I was in the lead for about 1/4 mile. I let a pack of runners go past me because it felt too fast. I felt like I was slower than goal pace (6:00/mile) and was working too hard. As we approached the 1 mile marker, I sped up to catch the girl ahead of me so I could find out what the split was. She said it was 5:45 and I was a bit shocked. Decided to just keep pushing and not let the pack ahead get too far away. I had a real hard time getting my legs to turn over. Tried longer strides, short and fast strides but nothing seemed to feel right. Was caught by another runner at the 2 mile mark. I stuck with him for as long as I could but he put a little distance on me towards the end of the race. Having him as a target definitely helped me push harder than I would have otherwise. Got a little pukey during the last mile. Finished in 18:51 which was 2 seconds faster than last year (although it was only good for 8th place). I have raced this course 3 times and have finished in 18:47, 18:53 and 18:51. Not sure if I would consider that being consistent or in a rut. I am happy that it was at least the same as last year. Maybe my fitness has not dropped off as much as I thought. Becky finished with a PR of 24:12 and we are still trying to find out Ashton's time. The timing and results were a mess. Getting a new timing system 2 days before a race was probably not the best idea on the rec centers part. The kids ran the 1k and Gracie got first for her age group and Emma got 3rd.
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