Decided to meet MacK and Josse in Springville and do my speed there, since I was likely to be on my own in SF. I asked Josse if I could pace her, and she agreed, and we developed a plan. My plan was to do the 5k course before the race at marathon pace (6:30-6:40 ave) then do it a little faster to help Josse break 20 min (6:27 I think is what does it). We ran about 6 miles together, then I took of my jacket (light rain the WHOLE time this morning and mid 40's for temp--at least it wasn't heavy rain). I started my own 5K with 24 minutes until the real race time. It is a loop which is uphill first mile, then flat 2nd mile, then downhill 3rd mile and finish at the track. Splits for 1st time around: Mile 1 - 6:45 Mile 2 - 6:26 Mile 3 - 6:02, total 19:28 (my watch measured course at 3.02) I then had 4 minutes to get to the start (about 1/4-1/2 mile away) and hit the port a potty. I get to the back of the start (about 1500 people?) and the gun goes off (I have my Ipod in but I see the masses lunge forward so I click my watch). Unfortunately I had to be pretty rude, zig zagging quite aggressively, half running over a 5 year old, elbowing casual runners, until I get enough space. I catch up to MacK just before the 1 mile mark and with Josse right at the 1 mile mark. She had a 6:40 or so split, perfect for the first mile. Here's my splits: 1 - 6:35 (starting at back of pack, so the 2nd half of this mile was much faster than the first 1/2) 2 - 6:35 Josse and I are running together, she is picking off people gradually. I guess it was in this mile that we lost some time in trying to chase 20 minute guy (we should have been 6:25-6:30). We were on target for a 6:25 for the first 1/2 of this mile, but the second half she starts to struggle just a little, but she stays really tough, responding to my give me five, and let's close the gap, type of talk. 3 - 6:17 Josse is strong down the hill, picks off pink shirt (a lady who we were closing the gap on), picks it up toward the end though no true all out kick 19:46 for me for 2nd 5k We round the corner around the track finish and the clock is right in front of us and says 20:00, Josse finishes by that clock in 20:08 or so, with pink shirt passing her as she finishes. My watch says 19:46, for the total second 5k, but I must have been slow to start the watch. Perhaps their timing was off, though and Josse's time should be more like 19:50. Overall, Josse did very well, and she stayed tough the whole time, which is THE hardest thing to do in any race. Kudos to her for a great race. MacK finished just behind us, and our running partner JH got second lady in the high 18's. A big congrats too goes out to Paul T from the blog who was just ahead of us (loved seeing him with his blog shirt on) and to Hal who was also just ahead of us. If it hadn't been raining Josse wouldn't have worn her long shirt and I think that would have shaved off some time. Bad weather for a race overall, but I am glad I showed up because it helped my workout happen. | 