Decided to try the suggestion of going all out first mile and then trying to maintain. I think it might have worked. I PR'ed by over a minute. Felt really awful around .75 miles, saw my mile split (6:40) and settled down into a less ludicrous pace (7:14, 7:16).

Get my speedwork up to 3 miles (it's around 2 right now). Vary my runs with some tempo?!? The race strategy itself seemed to work. I didn't die from going out super fast at the beginning. I guess the internets were right. The theory is that most middle-experienced (vs elite or beginner) runners go out too slow in a 5k and you can't make up ground lost in such a short race. Kind of makes sense.

Watched and cheered for a while. Saw Blackledge (Ryan) and Mrs. Blackledge (Laura) cross the line. Went with them and Thndrcloud (Alison) to a cool neighborhood breakfast joint where they have burritos the size of your HEAD!!! It was fun to meet my online friends from BT and geek out about triathlons in person for a while. We MAY have a scheme to meet for a late season tri, and maybe some other stuff before then...


I think I'm at the point where more miles, especially more quality miles, and perhaps losing a little more weight is going to pay the most dividends. Under 22 is a good milestone for me. I'd like to race below 7 minute miles at the end of the season perhaps.


This race was for brain tumor survivors and the families who have lost loved ones to brain tumors. It was unusual in that there were far fewer runners than walkers and while it was not a sad atmosphere, I felt very mindful of the pain and loss my fellow participants had suffered. I was thrilled to perform my personal best, but I was also thankful for the simpler joy of being alive today.