A very fun race for me today, not too often I ran fast enough to take first place, but I managed to today. I was just able to edge out Nate Bundy by a few seconds to finish first overall. I really wasn't feeling that great when I got up this morning, and really didn't know what to expect going into the race. The last two years I've been right around 35:55, so I figured if I could be close to that I would be very happy. My friend Steve Piccolo from college, (stevep on the blog) and I got to the park and then got on one of the first buses. I was able to get in about 1.5 mile warm-up with James, Nate, Steve P., Bill, and Ruth. It took a little longer than planned to get the race started, but it was nice visiting with people. Pic told to me to shoot for a top 5 finish, and I just "we'll see" I knew there was some good competition between Nate, James, Lindsey, Ryan, Andy, John Wright and then some kids that looked like they were in high school. 1-5:05 Fast first mile, but I knew it would be steep downhill. I was actually trying to hold back and I was in 4th place right behind Ryan. 2-5:38 (10:44) I made a small move on this mile, and passed Lindsey, and opened up a small gap on Ryan, but not much. 3-5:25 (16:09) This was probably my best mile, I was really focused here and caught the leader and passed him right after the mile marker, then worked on surging down the entire hill until the main highway. 4-5:44 (21:54) I struggled a little through the neighborhood, and knew Nate, James, and Ryan would be closing on me before long. 5-5:53 (27:47) I just kept trying to push and thinking how glad I was to be on Spring Break, I know that sounds weird, but I was really thinking about vacation time this week and enjoying some decent restaurants. I just telling myself, finish strong then you can enjoy next week. 6-5:56 (33:44) Another mile struggling, and I caught a glimpse of Nate closing pretty fast on me. I thought boy, it won't be long before he catches me and I don't want to get in a kicking contest with him. So I started pushing a little harder just hoping to have enough to get to the finish line.
.22 1:10 (34:56) (5:37 Average) Anyway, barely beat Nate, and Ryan and James were also right there. When I saw my time I was pretty excited a full minute faster than my time last year, so that made me feel good, especially to know where I'm at compared to my fitness from this time last year. I was also pretty excited to get a nice plaque and a free pair of shoes from the St. George Running Center (thanks Hooper!)
After the race I ran back and found Pic, he ran great and finished just over 42:00. Going in his goal was 44:00, so I think he ran great, especially considering he is just getting back into running. Overall, a fun race and nice to see so many of my running friends today, especially Mike Warren, who has taken some time off to heal, but is starting up again. Anyway, now it is off to enjoy Spring Break! | 