Ran the Strawberry Days 5K in Pleasant Grove. What made it especially fun was meeting up with Verdon, Paul and meeting Kevin Jessop who will be joining us at the WBR. The highlight of the morning was Paul winning entry to the St. George Marathon. It could only have been better if Kevin had won a spot too. Finished in 21:40 which works out to a 6:59 average pace. The first mile is a nice two percent downgrade which I finished in 6:22. I deliberately held back a bit as I felt that maybe I didn't warmup enough (I really didn't get into my normal breathing rhythm until we were about a mile and quarter into the race). It's always hard to know if you've held back too much at the beginning, but I felt great at the two mile mark (7:20 pace) and started picking it up. As the course heads east after rounding the south end of cemetery, it's a slight uphill. I slowed to around an eight minute pace, before turning at 2.6 miles and heading towards the finish. I felt pretty strong at that point and gradually accelerated (the downhill helped) and hit the three mile mark at 6:29 pace (7:15 average) and dropped to 5:45 pace by the finish. Placed 52 overall and third in age group behind Gordon Hullinger (17:11) and Dionisio Carroll (who was exactly 10 seconds ahead). Talked to the Schvaneveldts and Millers after the race. It was nice to see them and talk to them about the race and what they've been up to. | 