It’s about time. I could barely consider the 9:12 3k as a pr, but finally I’ve broken one of my long-standing marks. My old 16:06 was run at the qualifier for the state meet, it was my senior season and a last-ditch effort to make it to state. 16:06 was a pr by 43 seconds, and it’s always been somewhat of a revered mark for me.
So it’s especially sweet to finally break it. The race started fast, but this time I made sure to hang back at my own pace. With most of the first mile heading up a long, gradual hill, it would have been easy to burn out my legs before half the race was done. By about a half-mile in, I settled into 6th place, keeping those in front of me in sight. Aaron Robison was especially easy to pick out, he’s so tall, and I thought I could catch him if I raced right.
Mile one passes quickly – no mile mark, so no way to know the exact time. Mile two is mostly downhill, trying to dodge the 10k runners and keep the front guys in sight. It heads up a steep hill and finishes there; the marker was there and I had 10:16 on my watch. A little slower than I wanted, but the last mile had a good amount of downhill, and I figured I could make up some time on it.
During mile 3, the front runners begin to come back to me (well, except the winner, he maintains a large gap from start to finish). I pass a guy in a big T-shirt on the downhill stretch, and he passes me back at the bottom. I should be pressing the pace more, but I'll hang on to him for a stretch. We pass another guy, now I’m in 5th. I’m still with Big T-shirt, and another guy comes back to us. 4th place, Robison is coming closer. We head into the track I pass Big T, now Robison 10m ahead. Now 5m. It’s 320m to go, and I think if I can sneak up on him, I can kick past with 200m to go. At 300m to go, Big T charges passed, spooks Robison and they take off. I don’t respond, and they get too far ahead to catch. It's weak of me to let them go, but I can't find that next gear...
Sometime around 170m to go, I look at my watch and it reads 15:32, my brain isn’t working so well and I think I should be under 16:00 easy. I try to kick, but no one is coming up on me, and I still can't find that next gear. I cruise into the finish, see 16:00 on my watch, and feel happy about the PR, but frustrated I didn't break 16:00. Obviously, I get a surge of joy when I see they had me at 15:59.08. Luckily, my kick was enough.
The race went well, if anything I feel that I was too conservative. Plus, that last mile was kinda weak. By my watch, I ran 5:12 pace from Mile 2 to the finish, and there was a steep downhill right at the start. That last mile should have been at slowest 5:00, I had enough left to push that pace. Anyway. this is a good stepping stone for the rest of the season. | 