2012 Cotton Row 5K ... No Taper, No Problem

This was a good race despite it being a late start on a warm day. I even managed the race with little or no taper.  I had run 16 miles on Saturday and biked 31 miles on Sunday. So race Monday I had no expectations. I had decided that after passing out the week before at the Priceville 5K I was not going to push myself. Well let's be honest I promised my family I would not push too hard.

On race day I got to see my cousin Jenny who has been doing a good bit of running and racing.  What made the race special was that my daughter Dru got up early and came to the race to cheer me on. My friend Dave Truitt was also at the race and I started out behind him at the starting line.It was pretty warm and the sun was beginning to bear down on us. I decided to not push too hard and enjoy the race. After about a half mile I eased passed Dan. Who was I trying to kid, this was a race.  My pacing was OK and I was feeling better than I thought I would. I managed a pretty good pace (6:30, 7:04, 7:38).  There was a pretty good breeze and there was some shade around the buildings.

When I came running down toward the finishing line all I could think of was not stopping to quickly and passing out. Seeing Jon Elmore at the finish also reminded me of the Priceville 5K pass out. I slowed, but ran out of the shoot and then ran on around behind the finishing area. Dru lost sight of me and it took us a while to find each other. She had found one of her friends from high school and I had found his parents, so eventually we all got back together.

I managed to finish 30th overall and 1st place in my age group. I wanted to run under 21 minutes but got a 21:10.  I will take 30th out of over 2000 runners any day. It was great to share the day with my cousin and daughter and not passing out was a real plus.

Toray 5K Race

Good race Saturday. Not a PR, but improvement over my May 5K time. I shaved 10 seconds off my 5/22/10 5K race time. Still 17 seconds short of my goal. Back to a long run this Saturday. 5th place over all and took 1st place in masters.

Finished in 20:16

I will run long runs every other week until Dizzy Fifties in November. 18 or 20 milers and shorter 16 miles or less on the lighter weeks.

Setting My Sights on a Couple Goals

My next races are Brooke Hill 5K (8/14) and Hiwaay Sprint Triathlon (8/21). These will serve as training motivation for my fall goals. These are a sub 20 5K and a sub 90 minute half marathon. If I do not make them, I will still benefit from the effort.

At the moment my hill intervals are slipping, but I am ahead of last summer on distance and speed.
We will see what happens.

Priceville Parks and Recreation 5K (5/22/2010)

This was a good race for me. I finished the 5K in 20:26 and put me within reach of a possible sub 20 5K.

I was a afraid my faster times were behind me and I could not get close to a sub 20. I will try to build on this during the summer. Maybe I will get that sub 20 5K.