Longest Day 5K

Finally, an evening race!

Last night the YMCA put together a 5K in scenic Tudek Park. I was pretty excited to run after work; usually these races are early in the morning.

The humidity starting picking up right about the time we started. I felt really good for the first mile, although running up the hill on loose gravel was tough, tough, tough. The second mile seemed to take forever, and looking back at the course, and hearing what some other runners were saying, I think it was indeed quite a bit more than a mile.

I never felt bad during this race, but I never felt great either. But I was passing people during the last mile, so my conditioning must be paying off. I went into my final push after I topped the last hill, but I think that was a little too early. (Again, I think the course was long.) I thought I was going to catch the guy that was in front of me, but he had just enough to hold me off. And honestly, I think I backed off a little because I suddenly became unsure of how far the finish was.

I got in around 24:30, but I certainly felt like I ran faster than that. I don't know where I placed in the field, but I was in the first third I'm sure.

Today my knee is quite sore, which is telling me two things:
(1) I need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks.
(2) Time to get new shoes.