August 13th, Brooke Hill 5K

Nice race and for a good cause. I passed on this race last year because of hot weather. It was cooler this year but still hot. I decided to add this race after the Soggy Seal Triathlon. I did better than I expected at the Soggy Seal. I did a sub 21 minute 5K and still had plenty stamina to finish the bike and swim portion of the tri.

It was an 8:00 AM start. My only suggestion for this race would be to consider a 7:00 or 7:30 AM start. The temperature was getting pretty warm and muggy by race time. I started out as usual and was within the first 10 runners. I usually run my fastest within the 1st quarter mile of a race. It seems so easy to run at the start of a race. Adrenaline, excitement, or just being well rested really has an effect on me. As I have gotten more experienced I have tried to temper my initial exhilaration. I still run my fastest but I try to hold back a little for later in the race.

We started on a wide streets that allowed us to jockey for position easily. I had no idea how I would hold up in the heat but the first mile felt pretty good. There were a few youngsters in the lead pack but they faded as thee distance wore on. Sprinting is for the young. The race leaders were well ahead of me by the end of the first mile. I finished mile 1 with a pace of 6:19. I was feeling pretty good at this point.

Mile 2 was a little more hilly. The aid station is around the halfway point of the race. I usually don't drink I just pour the water over my head. This seems to help me more then trying to drink on a short race. I was just trying to hang on and not lose time off my pace. I did loose some and finished mile 3 with a 6:43 mile pace. I was happy with this, but I had Wayne Heckler behind me and he always runs stronger as a race goes on. Wayne is one of my running heroes and I want to be Wayne when I grow up. He has 10 years on me and started running in his late 40s. You will find his name on a short list of better runners in this area. He had just come off some high mileage runs days before the race, so I might have had a little advantage on this day.

I managed to up my pace on mile 3. At this point I was confident I would at least finish the race with a fair time. The run finishes uphill. As I turned onto the last street I could see Wayne behind me. I found this motivational. I tried to pick up my pace and finished the 3rd mile at a pace of 6:38. Now for the last drag race to the finish.

My friend Brad White took my picture at the end of mile 3 and I looked done. I did not feel done. Wayne's picture looked pretty good. I managed to keep pace with the guy ahead of me and started a pretty good kick to the finish. Wayne told me this was what kept him from passing me. I realize that another day a fresher Wayne Heckler would beat me. The last .1 was at around 35 seconds.

I finished with a time of 20:15. (Thank you Wayne Heckler). I finished 6th overall and first in my age group. The good time on I hilly and hot August day has given me confidence that I have a shot at a sub 20 minute 5K this fall.

Soggy Seal led me to attempt this race and this race should lead me to a good 5K time this fall. Everything works together some times.