I was fortunate enough to pick up the win today on a tougher course
in 1:18:55.
The start/finish line is 3 blocks from my house so I got to
sleep in and warm up in my neighborhood. The course is hilly compared to most offerings around here with a net
gain of 250 feet and includes one of my normal run routes. I decided to
do it last minute so I didn't have lofty goals. The mission was to get
into a groove, run some marathon pace miles, and have fun. I wasn't sure
how my body was going to respond given the mileage the last couple
weeks and no taper.
When they sent us off the plan changed a little. I started out in the
lead and was running 6:00 pace so I was wondering what was going on. I
ran with a local guy for the first 4 miles, it was cool to meet him and
chat back and forth as we climbed the slight incline. I felt like
garbage and actually considered just letting him go. The first 5 miles
were 6:04, 6:08, 6:15, 6:13, 6:02.
It flattens out for about a half mile at the end of mile 5 before the
first good hill. As soon as we started going up the hill I started to
feel good so I put a surge in and had the lead. At this point I altered
the plan and decided that I would go for the win without trying to
hammer it to death. St. George marathon is the goal so I want to play it safe from now until then.
The course has a loop with the bigger climbs on miles 6 and 7. I
surged hard on the climb and then again on the downside and opened up a
lead of about a minute. I knew I had it as long as I didn't do anything
stupid so I backed it off just after mile 8 and decided to maintain a
little under GMP and roll it in. Miles 6-11 were 6:15, 6:14, 5:46, 6:03,
6:00, 6:06.
This was going just fine until I hit the 5k people at their turn
around. I had ran solo long enough that I got excited to see people and
turned it up again for the last 2 and change. 12 and 13 were 5:50 and
5:40, with :23 on the .1.
It was awesome to break the tape and my wife was waiting for me close
to the line. I am very thankful and excited about the race today and am
really looking forward to the marathon in 4 weeks. I got to see
Melody at the finish area and run a cool down with her and Rachelle.
Melody won the 5k! She's awesome. PR for Rachelle today too.
I got a cool trophy, a free Road I.D. and $50 for the W :). It was a perfect way to cap off a big week.
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