I fell asleep last night around 9:30, so it wasn't surprising when I started waking up in the 4's. My alarm was set for 6:30, so I stayed in bed sleeping off and on until then. Only one nightmare visitor to crowd the bed. I had a single bowl of oatmeal. Spencer and I got to the race in time for a brief warmup. I thought I'd like more than a little, since it's been taking me 4-5 miles to feel like I'm going lately. I got almost 2. I saw Tara just before the start; she had a killer's eye. She asked me my goal, which was modest; stay under a 7 minute pace. The siren sounded, and we were off. Immediately I rebelled against the pace. People were passing me left and right while I faded in mile 1. Oh well. I needed some hard tempo miles for this week, and I was going to get them. After an initial hill, the first 1/2 of this race is downhill or flat. At the turnaround I was at 20:20, and the fun was over. We were headwinding all the way back, and had to climb back up the hills we dashed down. I passed 7 or 8 people in the second half, including a brief walk after the steepest up. (I can't believe I walked. I felt like I broke the code. Someone needs to revoke my runner card) My breathing was horrible. I had been following a lady the whole race, and thought, "I might catch her. She's got to be feeling about as lousy as me." We arrived at the final downhill, and I couldn't close on her, but when we turned into the parking lot, I found a little more, and caught up. She probably chipped me anyway, but this is a series, so all the seconds count. After the 5k, I'm 8 seconds out of first place for my age; I hope I made up some time. Splits: 6:45, 6:18, 6:41, 7:00, 7:45, 7:14. .2 was around 45 seconds. Spencer came in under 48, which was great. I had to rush home to help with an Eagle project, so no cooldown. 18 miles tomorrow. Dread. This was 2 minutes faster than last year, another good harbinger. (this may be the only time "harbinger" appears on the blog) | 