49F. Cool weather is here which makes all the difference for me. This 5k was always going to be a tactical race, as I mostly just wanted to win, but I also eked out a PR, beating out a pretty old one (but I was a young 32 when I ran it).
I decided I'd run conservatively and not make any moves until the end. Mile 1 was a 5:53, and I was in 2nd. Crept up to the first place guy and just ran alongside for most of the second mile, resisting the urge to speed up. Everytime we'd go uphill, he'd slow down - I think I'm figuring out that's a pretty good tell that you have someone beat. At about 1.75, he started dropping back. I ran mile 2 in 5:47. The last mile is tough, with the last half uphill, but fortunately I had a lot in the tank (as was the plan). My lead grew nicely, and I ran it in 5:50. Then 55s for the stub, measured at 0.17 (5:32 pace). Same course as last year, so a good comparison. Not certified, but any true 5k course is probably going to measure a little long anyway. Worked out to 5:49/mile on Garmin, which is close to sub-18 effort.
| Last year |
This year |
| 5:58 |
5:53 |
| 6:05 |
5:47 |
| 6:04 |
5:50 |
| 1:05 |
:55 |
Solid result, maybe not quite where I'd like to be, but it was nice to get some reassurance after last week that nothing is horribly wrong with me. Hopefully sub-18 at Preston's race in a couple weeks. I'll take it out harder and go for a good time, versus the tactical race I ran today.
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