Race 5 Summary

Today's race was the Speed-to-Read 5K in scenic Centre Hall. It was a much smaller race than I'd expected: just over 60 runners. I took a look at the course: except for only small hill, it was very flat. I knew it was going to be a fast race, and I was right.

I felt great in the first mile. I wound my way through the pack and found a little empty space. The only real issue was that one of the other runners decided that he would be more aerodynamic without a shirt and without deodorant. Seriously, the guy was 20 yards ahead of me and I could still smell him. Anyway, we came up the the first mile marker really quickly, it seemed. And it was quick: I'd run the first mile, hill and all, in 6:56.

At was then that I made my big mistake. Even though I was feeling good, I make a conscious decision to slow down. I stood up just a little to ease the pace, and I totally lost my rhythm. I was still going at a decent pace, but now it wasn't so easy. Although on the bright side Mr. Stinky did get far enough ahead that I could no longer smell him.

I finally got my legs back just before the end of the 2nd mile. I turned in that one at 7:50. In the back of my head I was thinking that I might be able to finish in under 23 minutes, if I pushed. But I had spent so much energy. With about a half-mile to go, I felt a stitch developing. There was no way that was going to stop me though: it was all downhill from where I was. Still, I held off on my closing kick just a little longer than I should have.

I finished in 23:14, so better than my race goal, and just a bit shy of a 7:30-mile pace. That was good for 33rd place (out of 62 runners), but it was still my best time this year by more than 30 seconds.

To see results for people aside from me, click this.