Setting the Pace for Conservation 5K

Well I made it onto the front page of the local newspaper.  The caption sums up the race nicely.  I led the first half mile (maybe less) and then Tommy 5K took over and did what he does best.  Congrats to him.  It seems that he is now fully recovered from his injury this summer.  There was a big WTAC presence at the race, and it was a really fun event for a good cause - conservation of local land.  I missed a PR by 2 seconds.  I did not run a smart race, and the data backs it up as I set time PR's at different distances  (see chart below) for all my GPS recorded runs: 

	400m	2ft	04:45/mi	-	00:01:10 PR
	1/2 mile	-0ft	04:58/mi	-	00:02:29 PR
	1k	-1ft	05:02/mi	-	00:03:07 PR
	1 mile	5ft	05:18/mi	-	00:05:18 2nd Fastest
	2 miles	3ft	05:29/mi	-	00:10:59 2nd Fastest
	5k	1ft	05:34/mi	-	00:17:17 2nd Fastest

No wonder I felt tired by 1 mile.  I then was in survival/suffer mode the rest of the race.  I couldn't get my pace below the 5:40's the rest of the way.  I had a big cheering section at the half point which helped.  My mother-in-law was there with her camera: 

 

 

The turnaround on Champlin Rd was kind of fun.  Mike B slapped me 5, and Mike C cheered me on.  Those guys are full of positive vibes.  I ran alone for the rest of the race.  The start/finish area was in the Avondale Preserve which is a coastal grassland.  There was a section at the start that was into a strong headwind, and I knew I had to finish into it as well.  It was really hard to get any sort of final push.  I looked back to see if Jeff was within striking distance, but it looked like my position was settled.  When the clock came into view, I realized I was close to my PR, so I did pick up my pace the last few strides through the chute, but my final time of 17:22 was 1 second off my PR.  No problem.  I didn't run smart in the beginning.  Lesson learned (maybe!).  Results here

 

 

 After I finished I caught up with teammates and then ran a cool down with Jeff and the Mikes.  Tom and Kelsey won awesome gift baskets and I was happy to bring home a tree.