Sioux City Race for the Cure today. My first race of 2010, i cant believe its been 6 months since I last raced. Had a good warmup of around 12 minutes and strides. Started off the first mile easier than some of the sprinter-types. Hit mile 1 in 5:32.6. Started the race in about 5th, but by mile 1 it was a two man race, me and the leader, who had about 15 seconds on me, i clocked him around 5:16 for his first mile. Hit the 2nd mile in 5:54.5 (11:27), I had gained a lot of ground on the leader, he maybe had 5 seconds on me by the 2nd mile. From the halfway point through the 2nd mile I noticed he kept looking back to see where I was. From the first time he did this, I knew I had the race won. You dont look back unless you can feel something slipping, ive been there before unfortunately. I ended up passing him with around 600 to go for the lead. I felt good throughout the race, and really had more than enough to solidly close the race. Took the 3rd mile in 5:41.6, a 13 second negative split from mile 2. Finished up the last .1 in 39 seconds. Ended up pulling away to win the race by 6 seconds. Pretty exciting, I love winning races, its a great feeling. Got nice recognition at the awards ceremony, even was handed the microphone on stage to answer a few questions in front of a large audience...kind of caught me off guard. The main thing that today was about though was the cause--racing for breast cancer, I love doing races for such good causes and to be able to win today I felt like was a tribute to those who aren't so fortunate and aren't able to enjoy a weekend road race like I am. Pretty cool all around. Cooled down for about 2 miles and some light static stretching. Next decision, whether to race 5k or 10k this coming saturday...prolly shoot for the 5k again.
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