Wow, finished my cooldown with J1, J2 and EB, thinking I'd run 19:01. That was my watch time. Chip time was actually 18:59. Think it's time to retire:) Monty Perkins puts on a heck of a race each year at the Smyrna Parks 5k and Bill Nash Mile. Even has a great technical tee.
Great day for a race. Nice and cool, brilliant sunshine, but lots of shade on this course. EB and I ran a 2 mile warmup on the last mile of the course. This was a tremendous help in the final mile of the race. The last half mile is shaded for at least a quarter of a mile, with about that much more to the finish.
J1 said he'd go out at a 6:10 for the first mile, which sounded good to me.(he got first in his age group) But, seemed kinda slow once we were running. WH lined up ahead of me and I planned on keeping him in sight. After about a half mile it seemed these guys were going to slow, so pushed a little. First mile came in at 5:45. To fast, and quicker than I'd run the one mile race last year.
Tried not to panic and just maintain pace. WH and AB both came by me before the second mile. I faded to a 6:19. Tried to maintain contact with WH. He was just a little bit to strong. Never let him get more than about 10 yards ahead. These 2 were the only runners that went by me. Not much power left in the final 3/4 of mile home. Only thing keeping me going was I knew the shade would give me a little boost. Still about the same gap to WH and about that much more up to AB. I thought I'd have some kick left with 800 meters to reel in at least WH. The kick wasn't there. Did get a little kick when I saw the clock ticking up to 18: something. Pushed to the line and the clock said 19:02. Sheeeeeeeeeeit. My watch said 19:01.
Really got to hand it to FM2 and Speedy for time trialing me 2 weeks ago. That helped tremendously. Also, EB even with her sand bagging; she pushed me hard on our last workout. J1 talked smack all week to P, who relayed it to me. All of this helped in mile 2 and 3 when its way to easy to cave and give in to the pain. WH has almost convinced me to run Fenton Payne in 2 weeks. 18:49 seems doable?
PJ was on hand to cheer me on. She took a few pictures. One of me going by at the start, but just got my foot. Oops. Good shot of me driving to the finish. The one picture is an accident? Cool looking abstract thing going on.
4 comments:
Congrats on the great race. I sure missed Smyrna this year. The misorganization and lack of TP at the race...left me a nervous wreck. Anyway...you did great. Hope you're having a few beers tonight...I sure am!
PS I am a goof...I have to bring stuff to the race (sandals, tshirt, wipes, food...so I had to drive 1 mile..yup!)
GREAT!!
Heard it was a great day for a 5k from my buddy, Wayne. He got a PR, too. Shaved off one min from last year. One day, I'd love to do this race.
Congrats!! in the 18's - you did it. Excellent
thanks ya'll.
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