Whoa! (or was it short?)

Ran a small 5k this morning, put on by UW La Crosse. Perfect conditions and, as it turned out, competition.

I led out the first half mile or so and was then passed by a young, tall runner. I later learned his name is Nathaniel and he is 19. Those young bucks are always full of energy; sometimes they are a little low on strategy. Nathaniel let me draft off him until around two miles. I did put in little surges to let him know that I wouldn't mind leading for a while, but he sped up with me, so we would run shoulder to shoulder for a little while. This often happens with younger runners, so I was happy just drafting off him.

At 2 miles, i put in a couple of surges and got a little gap. I decided to go for it, and the gap increased to about 15 seconds by the finish.

My time? 15::55! A 4-second PR.

But I have to be honest. Three weeks ago, I felt like I was peaking, and I am sure I ran around PR pace on a course that was long. This time, I have trained hard and ran 20 hilly miles Thursday, so by no means did I expect to PR today. I felt good, but not smoking fast, while warming up. I do think this course was a little short, unfortunately.

The good news is that a friend of mine will try ot get me into a couple of open track races. Maybe I could hit a perfect 15:45 5000 pack.

The Girl has had a million aches and pains since Syllamo. I don't know if it was her race itself that did it, or the 100+ mile weeks leading up to it, but her body needed a break. She has been biking and swimming a lot and is starting to feel better, so my sense is that she will bounce back soon.