This was a challenging race for me - as I am training for an Oly in about 3 weeks, so there was no way I could taper or even train for a sprint event like this. I was able to get to the track once, and then do a couple of fast runs on the treadmill was about my only "sprint specific" training.
My plan was to go out pretty hard, and try to hold 7 minute miles across the course. First mile was a 7:04, second was a 14:30. I really struggled after the first mile trying to hold the pace I had set (and clearly I didn't) as I dropped about 30 sec/ mile.

The good news is that even with my times slipping, I was able to pretty handily beat my brother - who had a time of 23:17. This makes two races in a row I have beat him (first a half marathon, now on a short race) and I think he is finally starting to realize that there is something useful in crosstraining.

This was a Personal Best for me, as I beat my previous best 5k time by about 10 seconds. This puts me on track for placing in my age category in the Almond Blossom Run next february, which has been my goal since I started running almost 4 years ago.

The run itself was fairly uneventful. I started very close to the starting line, as I did not want to get caught up with the slower people. This worked well, as I quickly settled into a good fast pace. After mile one I started doubting whether I could hold that pace - but I kept telling myself that since my breathing was still not too laboured, I was OK. Once I made it past mile two, I at least knew that I would not "blow up", then my fear was that my brother was lurking right behind me, and was going to pass me a any moment. So, I just kept pushing, trying to keep up with the runner in front of me, until we reached the last stretch off the bridge - then I put in a pretty good kick, to make sure that no-one would pass me a the last minute.

I need to get to the track more, and work more on speed work. This will happpen after October, when I start training for our marathon in March.

Walking, drinking, and some more stretching


Aerobic capacity


Well run race, some good raffle prizes, nicely done.