On to the serious stuff. 5K went well. I got a good jump and settled into a low 6 minute pace. A group jumped out ahead and I quickly was able to break them out into those that I would be passing and those whose backs I would be seeing the whole race.
First mile ended up around 6:09 which is a bit slower than I hoped. Kept up that pace for the next mile and a half and continued to pass people. Around 2.5 I passed the last person I thought I would catch. But he didn't fade away like the rest. My psychological-fu was not working on him.
Stubbornly he then passed me on a downhill. Hmm, interesting. Ok, keep pace and drive through it. Next uphill I was back in front. Last turn and a quarter mile left with him right on my tail. In a blaze of red he suddenly came flying by me and pushed it all the way to the end. He had way more reserve than I had thought. Oh well.
But wait, does the clock say 18:35? Time to give it all I have left. Across the line at 18:46, a new PR by 2 seconds! Alright!
For the second time in two weeks I placed ninth, how does that happen? Very happy with tbeing in the top ten. Unfortunately I did not place in my age group, I was fourth. The youngsters in the 19-29 group captuerd the top 3 spots with the first three 30-39 year olds taking the next three spots. That's a shame, they give out nice awards.
Ok, training round-up. Long 16 miler on Friday was not easy. I was tired and the sun was hot. Foolishly I left at noon so I got the brunt of it. Had to stop a couple times but I managed to tough it out to the end. The schedule has been tough and has made my more tired than usual, to say nothing of the perpetual aches and pains, but it should pay off in the end. Clearly my race times have shown significant improvement so it is all worth it.
Happy running.
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