I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- The Run Downtown 5k is the only race I've done every year in Greenville. I had no intention of running it this year until I was offered a free bib yesterday and my morning church-cleaning commitment fell through. And so, despite having only run 9 miles of speedwork since the start of October, I found myself toeing the line again. It's a fairly big (1400 runners) race with a fast field- winning time was 14:52. It's never flat, with about 200 feet climbing. Temps were cold, mid-20's and breezy. After a long warmup with Dan, we shed layers and were ready to run. I stood next to James Brooks, who was aiming for sub-16 and invited me to do the same. I assured him I would be closer to my slowest RDT than my fastest. His girlfriend, Kim Ruck, was nearby and seemed primed for a good race.

They started us and we surged down the hill, then spread out as we climbed for .8 miles. I found myself in 12th place and the 4th GE runner behind Jim, Phil, and Dan. Mile 1 felt fast yet not labored. I was hoping for a 5:20-ish but the clock read 5:30. Mile 2 is downhill and everyone in front of me pulled away while there was a pack of 4 or 5 runners just behind, pushing me to a 5:22. The pack behind me fell back except for one set of footsteps. Cheering voices told me it was Kim. With extra incentive to not get chicked, I kept pushing hard and held my breathing at appropriate level. The last 1.1 was 5:55, giving me a final time of 16:48, still in 12th place. It seems about the right time given my training. Results here.

Hour long cooldown with a group of 8 GE runners as the sun slowly warmed us. Good race, all things considered. I'm sure I could break 16 minutes if I ever trained for it, but don't think I will. Ultras are a bigger priority, and life is a tradeoff.