Had some oatmeal and egg whites for breakfast, and then took the jog down to Green Lake, which was about 1.5 miles from the house. Figured I could arrive fashionably late having already warmed up, and it would've taken a solid 10 minutes to run from wherever I might find parking anyways. Saw a few people who I've seen at random races here and there, though I'm not really a fixture in the Seattle 5k "scene". Stretched a little, and prepped myself for the race. Was looking to go out at a 6:05, wanted to break 19. Haven't run in a 5k since October, and I've lost 15 lbs. and gotten in much better shape since. Mile 1: Airhorn went, and everybody was off, and I was really glad at this point that I decided to bring the Garmin, as it told me I was running at a 5:20 pace. Not really sustainable! Felt really easy, actually. Made it up the first of two bumps in the otherwise pancake flat course without slowing. Found myself in a pack of 3/4 Club Northwest girls, and some random dude in basketball shorts who was looking worse for the wear. Crossed the marked mile split in 5:58, though Garmin told me 5:50. Mile 2: Felt pretty good for most of this mile, though some idiot who was walking around the lake in the opposite direction was yelling for people to get out of his way. I may have said some things that would be considered inappropriate in any forum, and made the people around me blush. I was starting to feel a little ragged, and then hit the second bump, which almost constitutes a mini-hill, and it smacked me pretty hard. It clearly smacked everybody else in the same way, though, and I started bridging up to the guys in pack in front. A Club NW master's runner moved through us and I tried latching on to him. Mile 2 marker said a 5:46, though Garmin tells me 5:50, which makes sense, given the length of the last mile. Mile 3: Should be noted that I've never once in my life run consecutive miles at sub-6:00, so at this point, I really started to feel it. I was physically capable of moving quicker, but slowed my pace down to a 6:03-6:04 for the first half of this mile, to preserve what I knew was going to be a monster PR. I've never pushed myself like this without crumbling, so control was of the essence. I lost contact with the group I was with, who started moving single file, and with a half mile to go, took stock of my position. There was a girl who was about 5/6 seconds in front of me, and I told myself I was going to catch her, and started moving much faster. Mind you, it took me another quarter mile before I was confident that kicking wouldn't crush me, but eventually I really picked up the pace. Started really fast with about 400 meters left. Crossed the Mile 3 marker in 5:51, though Garmin tells me 5:56, and again, I'm inclined to believe it. Mile 3.1: As soon as the Mile 3 marker passed, there was a wicked turn I caught this girl's shoulder, and blew by her. Second race in a row I've outkicked a girl... I'm a real man! Crossed the line in 18:10 and was elated... I had no idea I had closed that quickly... 34 seconds for the last .1. Felt much more winded than any other race I've done, almost hurled walking home. Really, really, really thrilled about the result. Can't wait to see my times when I'm actually able to put a few months of consistent training in! A depressing 350 miles this year can't hold me back! | 