Two on the Fourth

I've been waiting for the results to be posted for the small 2 mile road race I ran in my town the morning of July 4th. The race together with a 5 miler were to raise funds for the local high school track team.

The morning was overcast in the mid-50s and there was a decent breeze blowing from the west. I warmed up by running about 2 miles to the starting area and paying my race fees. I really didn't follow my usual pre-race routine, and just did some easy jogging and strides while awaiting the start of the race, which went off 10 minutes after the 5 miler.

I tried to run conservative at the start since the first two-thirds of a mile is a gentle downhil that drops about 40-50 feet in elevation. There was a small group of young guys and one other old dude in the front pack once the sprinting kids were dropped.

The course was mostly straight except for a hard right turn from the street to a path at .75 miles, and then a 180 degree turnaround on a cul de sac a little after the 1 mile mark. It was at this point that I passed the other old guy and moved into third behind two younger fellows.

The last part of the course climbs a bit. Not a huge amount, but very noticeable when your lungs are screaming for air and your legs feel like lead. I was gaining a little on the guy in 2nd on this section, but had no more gears left when the course turned for home with a quarter to go.

So I ended up 3rd overall, and first master in a field of probably less than 100. My time for the course was 11:17, which the Garmin 305 measured at 2.05 miles. Although I didn't catch the splits on the course, SportsTracks and MotionBased had me at 5:28, 5:32 + 17 seconds for the .05 miles at the end.

It wasn't the finest effort, but I was able to run steady for the most part and I didn't fall apart too much at the end. It actually felt more like a very hard workout than a race so I guess i can't complain...