This is not a typo.... I ran exactly what I did last year in this race!
19:42:00 ... How can that happen? 1st in my Age Group, 3rd Overall.
Going into this race I was a little skeptical what I would do. I was still feeling somewhat tired and sore from the Beach to Bay relay last week. Even so, I decided to give it a go and try and set my sights on a 19:30. I decided to go out much slower than I did last year thinking I would be able to maintain that pace longer and then have a great kick at the end.
We got to the race in plenty of time (Callie and me) and visited with a few people until I decided to warm up. I told Callie I was going to run up the first hill so I could see how steep it was. Well, I ran about .35 of a mile and then turned around. As I got within about 50 yards of the starting line I realized they were counting down to the last few seconds of the race. As I ran up to the starting line the announcer said "are you ready"? I said yes, turned around right on the starting line and took off in the race. Man...I sure could have used a couple of minutes to catch my breath! I can't believe I'm always doing something like this. :-(
As we took off there were about 8 runners at the front, six of whom were slightly ahead of me. As we went up the first hill there was one young guy who took off way ahead of the bunch. I know right then it would be impossible to catch him. All the other runners started pulling ahead but I tried to hold steady around the mid-6 pace. As we got to the 1st mile marker the bunch had spread out over about 50-75 yards. My first mile was 6:16 (HR 165), a little faster than planned but not the 5:58 I ran last year. With that time I thought I was right on pace for the 19:30 I was shooting for. Mile 2 started out good but I kinda got lost in myself and slowed a little. I saw the first guy run around the turn-around and as he came running by I yelled "I'm comming to get you!". I could see the crack a big smile as I ran by. :-) I decided before the turn to start making my move and I passed one guy right before the turn-around.
After that turn-around I had in my mind that I would really start to run hard and pick up the pace. Well, I got half of that part done, I ran hard but the pace didn't pick up. Even with the slow down I was able to catch another running before the end of the second mile. this second mile came in at 6:29 (HR 174) ....Ahhh! Slower than I ran on the 5 mile run last week. On the 3rd mile I just felt beat and just couldn't seem to pick up the pace. This mile came in at 6:29 (HR 180) just like mile 2 but with a lot more effort. I was still picking other runner off and by the end of mile 3 was about 10 yards behind the #2 guy. Even though I was beat, I thought I would able to catch this guy but I just didn't have the kick I normally have. I ended up running .28 on the last .11 mile. He ended beating me by 3 seconds...and to rub it in, he was 40 years old so he won the Master's division.
It seems I am back to square one with my conditioning compared to last year at this time as my time and HR are exactly the same. This year I WILL NOT HAVE A BIKE WRECK and be able to get down to the 18's on my 5K!
Callie won 2nd in her age group too!
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