Wesley Chapel 5K Race Report (formerly Fast Tuesday's 5K)
Time: 19:21, 4th place overall
This was the first day of the race at new day/time, Sunday at 8:15 instead of every other Tuesday at 7:00 pm. But, still almost as hot and humid - this morning was 79 degrees and swampy feeling (except for a tiny breeze).
Terri was there again and we both talked about how we weren't sure how well we'd do today - me because of the 18 miles on the Croom trails/hills yesterday and her because of yesterday's 5K. There was also a middle school runner there today who looked pretty fast (turns out she's been at some other races I've been at). Michael, the RD decided to jump into the race as well. The three lead guys quickly put a lot of gap between us and I'm running just behind Terri and the middle school runner and after the second turn get just ahead of them. The leader is quickly far away and getting even farther (he'd finish in 14:53).
My race strategy on this course has been to go out fast and try not to fade and get the third mile in closer to the rest of the miles. So, first mile goes as planned and like the other races here but just a little bit faster at 6:04. I'm a little nervous because it means either I'll do well or set myself up for a big crash. The whole time Terri is not far behind me. Sometimes her footsteps sound really close but I dare not look back - just keep going. Middle school runner is also not far behind.
I hang on for the second mile and finish that one in 6:08. Still no big lead - but that's good because it keeps me going. For the third mile where I usually fade at this course (previous best third mile here was 6:28 last race) I have in my head the images of Andy and Thomas at their recent races. Andy with his 19:53 after running through some muddy trails and breaking 20:00 for the first time after several tries since June (and 500 miles over the summer with the team) - his "Robert The Bruce spider moment" and Thomas who managed to knock off over 2 minutes from his PR in just one week and ran so fast he nearly passed out after finishing Thursday's race. Knowing how hard those two worked I knew I could do a little bit better and not fall apart. So, I hung on with 6:14 for the last mile and did the best I could for a final kick.
Terri was right behind me to the end with 19:24 and middle school runner just 9 seconds behind her.
Mileage/time Totals: 6.4 mi, 49:37, 7:45 avg
Did a 1.1 mile warmup before the race with two Strides to accelerate to goal 5k pace and then did a little bit over 2 mile cool down at the end.
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