I ran the Rex Lee 5k today. I didn't know if I was in good shape or not, but I decided to just go for a sub 16. I thought that was a pretty good goal. I warmed up about three miles and stretched. I didn't feel great, but I felt pretty good. I was a little sore. I started out in fourth place. One guy went out fast, and I was with Pete and another guy. About a half mile in, they pulled away a little bit. I wasn't too worried, because Pete starts out pretty fast. This was also where the 5k met up with the 10k, and we were dodging slower 10k runners for about 3/4 of a mile. (That's the only bad thing about an otherwise well put together race. They really need to fix that.) I tried to stay close, and the three guys in front were in a pack. I was about seven seconds back. I went through the miles in 5:13, and I felt pretty good. At this point, Pete had pulled away from the other two guys. I decided I needed to catch them if I wanted to win. I pushed and caught them within a half mile. I stayed with them until the long downhill path and passed them on that. I came through two miles in 10:20, so a 5:07 second mile. I was about seven seconds behind Pete at that point. Over the next half mile I was able to catch Pete. I could tell I was pushing it, but it was easier to catch him than I thought. He didn't really fight back, and I gapped him pretty quickly. This was at about 13:00, and I wasn't feeling great, but I managed to put enough space on him so that I didn't have to worry. I came through three miles at 15:15 (about), which means my third mile was a 4:55. My last 200 was 34-35. I was struggling a bit, but I had a big enough lead. The three other guys were all at about 16:04, with Pete in fourth. This was one of my better races. I didn't think I was in very good shape, but I got a 15 second pr. I think that if we didn't have to dodge the 10k runners, I could have been 10 second faster. I was also very happy that I went 5:13, 5:07, and 4:55. Those are the best splits I've run in a 5k. About an hour and a half later I did ten miles at a 6:45 pace. I felt pretty good.
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