Alright, today was probably the worst race of my life. My legs were absolutely beat, and I felt tired. I warmed up about three miles, then did a few strides and headed to the start. My heat was pretty big, so the start was a mad dash for place. I jumped in mid-pack and planned to just sit for a while. We came through the first lap in 72 (not too fast) and it felt much harder than a 72 should. We hit the next few in under 70, and hit the overall mile in 4:37. This is about the pace I wanted to run for the whole race, but my legs were done. I wanted to stay with the main pack terribly, but I just did not feel "it". At six laps, it felt as if I hit a brick wall, and I could tell my pace went down substancially. After that, all I wanted to do was finish. This was the worst seven or eight minutes of my life, and it dragged on one lap at a time. I honestly can't even believe I finished. I drank some water, then did my cooldown and jumped into the team van. I was in a bad mood to say the least. This whole trip to sealevel and I major sucked it up. I seriously think I could have ran this time a year ago at sea level (when I was not in half the shape I am in now). I will take it with a grain of salt, learn, and prepare better next time. Although I don't ahve another chance for a 5k this season, I do get to run conference (10k), at altitude. That should be good. Everybody has bad days, but it's those who recover the quickest that do the best. | 