Today was the Minuteman 5k. I got there about 7:00 and drove the course with my dad. I then warmed up and went to the bathroom. I stretched and got ready. I got to the line and it was very crowded. There were a lot of good runners at the race. The race started out very fast. I backed off a little bit and was a little bit behind the front pack at the beginning. The first half mile was 2:20 something, and the mile was 5:00. I was more tired at the mile than I should have been. I remember thinking that a five minute mile should not seem this hard. The next mile was painful. There was a group of about three guys right ahead of me, and I tried to stay with them, but I couldn't. I wasn't breathing especially hard, but my legs wouldn't move much faster. I don't know if I need more speedwork, or if my legs are tired from the higher mileage this week, but I just couldn't push to get with the guys. After that another guy passed me, and I stayed with him for a little bit, but my legs were just so tired. The second mile was 5:16. The third mile was the hardest. I tried to push it to close the gap on the group in front of me, but it was hard. I didn't have much of a kick at the end, but I pushed it in. It was also the slowest, 5:30. I was disappointed with this race, but I guess I just have to move on. I'm sure that the high mileage and a ten hour car ride yesterday didn't help, but I can just focus on getting ready for the Autumn Classic now. I think I will hit around 70 miles for the next three weeks, then taper to 60 and 50 the week of the Autumn Classic. After the race I felt sick to my stomach and wasn't going to cool down much, but Bill Cobbler asked me if I wanted to cool down with the East xc team. I did, and we ran 5 miles at a 7:59 pace. We pushed the last half mile to get under 8:00 pace. It felt pretty good and it was nice cooling down with them. | 