Dine-n-Dash #1 5K

Well ran my 1st non-snowshoe race of the year last night out at the Boulder Rez and it went a little better than I expected. I really did not know what to expect since my running volume had taken a hit from starting this new job while I am figuring out how to balance it all and the fact that I have only done one track workout about 2 weeks ago. The track workout was nothing intense at all, just some 10X100, 5X200, and 2X400 so I could work my way back into some sort of speed. With that I figured anything under 24 mins would be a good start to this 6 race series.

Got there about 5:50ish and after getting ready, I walked/jogged around Coot Lake with Neal for about 25 mins as a warmup. I wanted to run a little more than I did but I just was not feeling it.

The cowbell went off and I tucked behind two guys who were running side by side so they could do all the work going into the 20-30mph winds that were whipping off the water. I hit the 1st mile in 6:25ish and thought what the hell! With that I felt maybe I have a shot at breaking 20mins which is my goal to do in one of these 6 races. The 2 guys that were breaking the wind for me started to hurt and slow down from the wind so I passed them and I was on my own from there.

After the 180 degree turn around I started eyeballing people in front of me. First was a guy in a long sleeve black shirt that I passed shortly (within quarter mile), about here is when I saw Neal kicking some ass heading toward the turn around. My next target was a local named TK who I meet a few years ago before he got kicked out of the Boulder Trail Runners. He is pretty quick and I have never been able to beat him in a race or keep up with him when our paths cross.

Passed mile 2 in 13:03ish still keeping TK the same distance from me, I just could not close on him. The last 1/2 mile hurt as we went across the last dam straight into the wind. Sucking air big time and having a major side ache I crossed the finish line in 20:06 according to my watch, 20:10 according to the race watch. I finished the same distance from TK as when I started trying to catch him, just could not close it out.

That is a PR for me by over a minute and 45 seconds! Huge! Of course this is the first 5K race I have ran since 2006. I am sure if I would have ran one in 2007 or 2008 I could have easily broken 20 mins. Hopefully it lead to some better times over the next 6 weeks. I want to beat TK just one time during this series and break 20 mins for 3.1 miles.