Lovejoy Country Run 5K

It's been a pretty good training year so far, though just last week I was feeling pretty tired. I have done no real speedwork, so yesterday's race gave me a pretty good idea of how far I've come since I started running again and better yet, it gives me an even better idea of how far I have to go.

I was discussing a little bit of strategy (if you can call it that at my current fitness level) with Greg, and he suggested that I hold back a little the first mile and then try to run negative splits the 2nd and 3rd miles. I guess that plan completely slipped my mind because when the gun went off, I strode right up to the front with the leaders. The first quarter to half mile may have been a bit too fast, causing me to slow down the next half, putting me at 5:54 a mile in. Normally I think this pace would be fine, but it probably should have been a bit more even.

At the halfway point, I was actually in 4th place but by the end of the 2nd mile (6:12 mile, 12:06 total at the check point), a few people passed me, and I felt like I was fading rather quickly.

I faded a bit more before trying to gather myself for a mini kick at the end and crossed the line in 19:01. I had envisioned running low 18s or better, so I was a bit disappointed, but it honestly is a good start and with the training I have planned for the summer, I really believe I can get much faster. Conversely though, I won my 25-29 age group and brought home a medal! :) That's pretty good encouragement I think.

If you want to see real pain, watch my finish here. It shows the winner, who beat me by about 1:40ish, but Jess did some pretty good camera work, and you can see the times as the runners cross. (I got 8th overall).