My first running race of 2011 took place at the Great Lakes Multisport Expo. There was a 5k and 10k and I chose to race the former. Although it's winter, I have been doing a fair amount of swimming, biking, and running, mostly indoors. The weather on race day was chilly but not too windy. I felt pretty good although a bit tired from staying up late the night before with people we met at the expo including a man who was one of the original Hawaii Ironmen. He had some great stories to share.
After jogging to the start line (about 1/2 mile from the Expo), I ran into my friend Bill who does a lot of races and recently beat me at the Madison Mud Run. I told him I owe him one for the Mud Run and he shouldn't be surprised to get an elbow at the finish as I sprint past. He smiled.
After the gun went off, I sat tucked in behind Bill for the entire race. I know he is very good at pacing so I decided to run off his pace and then see if I could beat him at the end. This worked well for most of the race. Near the end, I saw a sign saying 3 miles. I assumed it was for us and started to pick up the pace. Turns out it was for the 10k course which shared the same route. A little farther down I saw a second sign for 3 miles. This was near where I expected the finish to be. When I didn't see the finish, I felt like I sprinted too soon and couldn't hold my speed. Bill ended up beating me by about 6 seconds.
Overall, I finished first in my age group and 19th of about 420 runners. Bill won his age group and both his mom and dad won their age group in the 70-79 year old categories. What a cool family! Great start to the year and hope to improve from here and redeem myself at the next race vs. Bill. Now I have something to focus on when training.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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