Jenny had signed us up for this race. She was the kid runner (stayed with the two boys and just ran easy) this morning and I was the racer. On our drive down I saw the outside temperature climb a little from 77 degrees when we left to 80 degrees when we got there. I warmed up with a little bit over 3 miles easy pace including a few strides at the end. After Thursdays harder than expected 1K repeats I wasn't sure how well I would do today. I had one big goal for today's race - get up to the front of the line and go out fast. Right before the race I chatted briefly with a guy I see at a lot of races, named Joe, who is my age but a good bit faster (17 - 18 minute 5k times). So I stood next to him at the beginning. We were off and was right behind Joe for a short time and ahead of everyone else. Joe then continued to gap me but that was ok, I was able to get the quick start that I wanted. Just after about a quarter of a mile, one guy passed me, and then another guy. The two guys that passed me spread out from each other and from me and it pretty much stayed the same spread for the rest of the race. I was happy with my first mile and after the second mile I thought I had a slight chance at going under 19 today. But, I also knew that my garmin was not accurate, I just wasn't sure by how much. I felt myself slowing down in the third mile (mid 6:30's) but was able to regain some of that speed. Turning the last corner it was hard to see the finish chute at first because I was running into the sun. When I could finally see the time clock it was maybe 19:02 or something like that, so not today.
Splits from Garmin: 5:58, 6:09, 6:15, 1:03 (0.18@5:44) 4 out of the top 5 guys were in my age group, the guy not in my age group was 50. Joe ended up exactly 1 minute faster than me. So, I was 2nd in my age group. The race was pretty well put together for an inaugural 5k and well attended (about 500 people). Course was very scenic, mostly flat with a small hill near the beginning and the same hill about halfway. They had nice plaques for all of the age group recipients which was a nice touch. Tom took first place in the under 10, and Andy 2nd place in the 10-14 group.
Garmin said I had a 6:06 average pace, so if the pace had been correct it would have been under 19:00. However, before the race started they warned us that the race course was measured and certified but would probably measure long on gps devices. There were quite a bit of turns which garmins don't handle as well as straighter courses. I was happy with the first mile, a decent second mile and a pretty good kick at the end. Although the time was slower than my last two 5K's, something felt good about today's race.
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