Warmup - 1.03@10:15, cooldown - 2.33@9:24
Race - 3.09@7:01, 21:41
Fun times. One of my most evenly run races with each mile within a second of the other. It was warm and humid of course but no different than other years. Splits were pretty close to each other:
7:02, 7:01, 7:01, then 35 seconds (0.09@6:27)
First mile was a big crowd, the usual enthusiastic younger runners, most of whom faded about 1/4 mile out but many held on and several kept a good lead on me. First mile I steadily improved my pace, then held on for the second mile at about the same pace. Third mile I was tempted to slow down. My goal was to stay under 22 minutes. I also wanted to speed up. But between wanted to slow down and speed up, stayed about the same pace until finally hitting the three mile point with the finish line in sight.
Awarded first place age group 55-59 but was 14 seconds short of "Grand Masters Award".
As always, great to see so many familiar faces and enjoy the festive atmosphere.
Last 5k was 21:07. I felt like I had lost a lot of speed but 34 seconds isn't so bad. I can get back to low 21's and could break 21 soon. I've been cutting back on alcohol, gradually eliminating mid-week consumption and also reducing weekend intake.
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