Instead of a long run on Saturday morning, Cathy and I decided to race the Celebrate Westlake 5-miler. I haven't raced at all this summer so I was looking forward to seeing how well my conditioning has held up. I was thinking 30-minutes +/- 30 seconds (i.e. 5:55-6:05 pace). I had no idea whether or not this was realistic but I thought it a good guess since the weather was near ideal and it was a flat course. I shouldn't say the weather was ideal since we were beginning to feel the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto. However, from a runners point of view, 60°F with a light rain is not bad weather. Lined up a few feet back from the start line (behind the local speedsters and the few Kenyans that showed up) and did some light stretching prior to the gun. The start was smooth. I watched the Kenyans fly out at their sub-5 minute pace and wished for the 1000th time that I could hang with them, if only for a mile or two. Once back into reality I punched out the following times...
Mile 1 - 5:52
Mile 2 - 6:11
Mile 3 - 6:12
Mile 4 - 6:08
Mile 5 - 6:06
...for a 30:29 finish. Perhaps I went out to fast or maybe I slowed a little too much after I saw how fast my first mile was. Oh well. Running a hard 5-miler makes me think back to my first 5-mile run and how hard I thought it was at the time. I remember writing in my journal "5 miles ain't no joke!". No it ain't!
1 comment:
Congrats on hitting your target time for the 5 miler.
I am always amazed and awe struck when I watch the Kenyans at the start of a race.
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