I did 3.5 in the morning with Sasha and Mary Ann. The time was 30:00 (8:34/mile) for the entire run. I plan to do the New Year Run this afternoon so more on that later.
After the run in the morning at 9 degrees, I wasn't sure how warm it would be for the race. I kept an eye on the temp and it still said 19 degrees at 12:30. Then it jumped to 33 just before I left. The sun was shining and it felt nice. I drove over, registered and got my number. After a quick wardrobe change, I set out for a bit of a warmup. I ended up doing a little over a mile including a little bit with Sasha. I did some stretching and some strides and got ready to race. The start was a little bit delayed, but it wasn't too much of an inconvenience. I just kept my warmups on and kept warm. My goal for the race was to go somewhere around 5:50-6 minutes per mile. The race started and Sasha took off. I debated on whether to go with him and try to hang as long as possible, but decided against it since he was shooting for 5:20-5:30 pace. Adam and Chauncy were right there so I thought maybe I could draft for awhile, but the pace was too slow so I took off. Sasha was slowly pulling away, and I was building a small gap on Adam. I hit the first mile in a respectable 5:45. The course out to the turnaround was a headwind the whole time after about 600 meters. It was a bit cold, but I kept pushing. I was feeling good and passed Sasha going the other way. I hit the turnaround and had about a 100 meter lead on Adam, but Chauncy was closing on Adam. It was a little after the turnaround that I developed a nasty side cramp on my right side. The same thing happened on my last race. It was slowing me down and generally being annoying. I didn't see the mark for the 2nd mile, but I got my split at the mile mark on the way back and figured my splits out that way. The second mile was 6:24, so I slowed down considerably. I expected Adam and Chauncy to go by any second, but there was no sign of them. I finally got the cramp worked out a little bit with a half mile to go and tried to kick it in. With about 400 meters to go, I could hear someone coming up behind me so I sped up a notch. I didn't want to look behind me so with 200 to go I gave it all I had. The last mile was 5:52 with the last 0.1 in 36 s for a total time of 18:37. That is almost right on 6:00/mile pace, so I was pleased. It is the fastest 5K I have run in quite awhile. The last 5K I ran was the Cougar run in 2006 with a time of 19:28. My training has been sporadic for the past couple of months and almost non-existent before that while working through an injury. My time will drop as I get some more consistent training in. I finished the day by running a cooldown with Adam. We ran out to the turnaround of the course and drove his truck back while picking up the cones along the way.
I was pleased with the race overall. It was small but adequate. Having the registration, food and awards in a house nearby was nice. Things didn't go as smoothly as they could have, but I enjoyed myself, and Mary Ann did a good job overall. Things will improve as more people hear of the races, and the bugs in the system work themselves out. I will definitely run more races in the series and will recommend it to my friends. | 