5K race report

We ran a 5K this morning in one of the neighboring towns. Didn't really know what to expect. The flier had 20 sponsors listed so we thought it was going to be a pretty big race.

Driving up to the start area, we quickly realized that it was actually a pretty small race. I didn't wear my race singlet as I thought that would be a bit over the top for such a small race. There seemed to be some fast-looking women but no fast guys.

For once we had some decent time to warm up. I had run for 20 minutes before we left home and had time for a good jog and some accelerations before the start. Suddenly, before the start, a couple of fast runners appeared. Matt Howard was there; he is an ultramarathon stud who can also go fast in the shorter races. A triathlete I think I have seen around the area was there as well.

I was hoping to go clear from the beginning but Matt and the triathlete stuck with me. The first mile we swapped the lead a few times. I felt good; I put in a few accelerations to go clear but, every time, the triathlete and Matt would claw their way back onto my wheel.

This reminded me of my early days of racing where I was such a head case. I never liked to race in the front back then. It was either break clear or suck wheel. Today I tried three of four times to break clear unsuccesfully. We came through mile 1 in 5:20.

A little after mile 1, I surged again and Matt dropped off. The triathlete couldn't quite get back on but was only 5 yards back. I decided to keep pushing and evenetually built a lead of 20 seconds at the finish. He was tough, though, and never really gave up. I looked up his name and it seems like he is a very fast triathlete, winning all the events I could find online.

It puts things in perspective that I can only just barely beat the best triathletes in running. He would crush me in the swim and the bike legs, of course.

The Girl opened up with a 6:09 mile. When I saw here after the turnaround, she was in first place. The second-place woman was 10 yards or so back and, honestly, looked like she was gaining on her. However, at the finish, the Girl won by almost a minute. Official time was 19:46! That's a 32-second PR. That's basically off just minimal speed work and learning to take it easy every other day. She is pretty damn fit just 6 months after gaving birth to the Lorax.