I ran the Magna 5K this morning. Sasha, Tyler, Steve, and I (plus my wife Kimia) carpooled up to the race and we warmed up together. At the start of the race the temperature was a little cooler than expected but not too cool, and there was a tailwind which helped. I went out behind the leaders and they put a quick gap on me. I was sitting in about 9th place at the beginning. Here are my splits. Mile 1 - 4:34 - I was in 8th place by the mile mark with Tyler one second back and Sasha a second or so in front of me. This ties for the fastest mile I have ever run, tying with a mile I ran in practice once. This mile by far had the biggest elevation drop of any in the course which explains why it is so fast.
Mile 2 - 4:49(9:23) - I was in 6th place by this point, just a few seconds out of the money (only $20 but I still wanted it). Sasha was 3 seconds back and Tyler was 13 seconds behind me. This mile had a good amount of downhill near the beginning of it, however it flattened out after a bit and even had a slight increase in elevation over the last few hundred meters. Mile 3.1 - 5:44(15:07) - I missed my time at the 3 mile mark but based on my pace from 2 miles to the finish I averaged about 5:10-5:11 pace. So, if I give myself a 5:11 I come up with a 14:34 at 3 miles. My official time was actually 15:08 due to rounding per USATF rules since it was not chip timed, but I know it was a 15:07 so I am counting it. The last mile continued the slight uphill from the end of the second mile then flattened out. There was a quick drop and then the course flattened out again to come into the finish. I sacrificed Josh (the 5th place runner and thus my sacrificial lamb for the day) shortly after the 2 mile mark to pull into the money after which I put 8 seconds on him by the finish. Sasha finished in 8th with a 15:25 and Tyler came in 9th at 15:28. Steve finished 10th in 16:06 (not bad for his first post injury race). So, I am happy with the big PR, especially since I have not been training for short distances and I have done almost zero speed work. However, I am not as happy as I would have expected. I think I could have gotten a few more seconds out of my legs if I would have pushed it harder the last mile and now a big 'what if' keeps running through my head. I would like to eventually get under 15:00 and although I don't know if that was in my range of possibilities today I think that eventually I can. Anyhow, I am pleased with the race and I am looking forward to future improvement.
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