Race went pretty well! There was an outside shot that nobody fast would show up and that I could maybe come away with the W. But...that didn't happen. A couple quick guys came....they beat me by less than a minute but I was confident that I did just about as good as I could with the amount of training I have done. I mean, I definately still need to train myself to push through the pain....who knows what my threshhold is...its just a matter of doing it in the race. I felt a little wimpy for not REALLY going after it. But thats easy to say after the race.

So, race started, went out at a pretty good pace. Was running with two other dudes from about the 1 mile mark. Cam through mile one at 5:48. That didn't feel strained, but I wasn't sure how I would hold up at that point. Just hung with the two other guys and felt good about the pace. Second mile was 5:46 so that was good. I was just cruisin, trying to stay controlled...still wasn't sure how I would hold up. Third mile was 5:44. So mile times were good and consistant and I definately wasn't dying at this point. The young dude took off at the three mile mark. That must have been his plan. So I let him go and I stayed with this older dude. Now, this guy ended up stayin about 10 meters behind me for most of the rest of the race. Fourth mile was 5:41 which turned out to be my fastest mile of the race. Fifth mile was 5:42....then I started to slow a bit. I don't know why I do this...I always tend to slow a bit just before the race is about to end and then I kick...I need to train myself to push all the race through....sixth mile was 5:51 and then the last .2 was 46 seconds. The last .2 was like 54.5 quarter mile pace so that was cool. I kicked down that older dude. I let him pass me at the 6 mile point, stayed on him, and then smoked him...........ahhhhhhhh. Felt good. BUt I give him all the props in the world. He was 50! And his kick was smoking! I barely got by him.

So overall, it was a good race....good to know where I'm at with the limited amount of training i have put in. Hopefully I can run that same pace for the half marathon in May. I would be very happy with that. And I think thats doable.

It was HARD though. This running stuff ain't easy. Its just pushing yourself the entire time...never letting up. If I want to get to the next level...I gotta get serious....stay focused and motivated...who knows how fast I could get if I did. But today was a good stepping stone.

Keep it up!