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June 6, 2009
5k
There was a 5k this morning at a park several miles from my house. Coach somewhat reluctantly allowed me to run it even though he considers me to be still recovering from the marathon 3 weeks ago. I was pleased with the time but not the execution. We had thunderstorms all night so today was sticky and warm. Right after the gun I noticed that my right shoe was loose. Wondered if I could manage to pull over and re-tie, without my glasses, without losing too much time; decided against it. Tried to regulate pace in the first mile, began to move up around the 1-mile mark. Continued to pass people, but they were slowing down anyway.
At 2.25 I passed a fabulous masters runner I have idolized for years; she is slowly coming back from a years-long injury, which is the only way I could ever get near her in a race. As I passed she said "good job" to which I responded "oh, I'm fading," and then proceeded to do precisely that. She passed me back within the next quarter-mile, and I spent the remainder of the race not looking at my watch and trying not to fade too badly. Just after 3 miles I was passed by a fabulous 20something-yo runner, who is pregnant; another breathless round of "good job"s was doled out. The finish clock was broken and read 10:00 when it came into view. As I crossed the line somebody said "20 flat," and a second later I remembered to hit the stop button on my watch.
20:00, 3rd woman, 1st masters. 6:24/6:32/6:43/6:35 (.1mi). GPS says 3.06 miles; that and a heavily wooded section may account for the fact that my splits do not reflect a 20min 5k (6:24 being the average pace necessary for that). Last year I ran this race in 20:18, but I was about 6 weeks out from a hip flexor injury. Still, I'm glad to get near 20 again. Biggest lesson learned: I'm not ever going to pass that fabulous masters runner again unless I know for sure I can take it all the way to the finish.
Posted by joe positive at June 6, 2009 2:52 PM
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Comments
Nice! The fade part stinks, but the time is still very nice.... Agreed on the passing. Always hard when you pass just to be repassed.
Posted by: Mindi at June 6, 2009 3:14 PM
Good race!
Posted by: Adeel at June 7, 2009 1:23 AM
My head is cradled in the palm of my hands. ,
Posted by: His_wife24 at October 22, 2009 1:38 PM