Largest crowd I've ever seen in a race! 3700+ runners.

Here's the play by play:

Km 1 (4:45) too fast
It took about 1.5 minutes to get to the starting line. Started stopwatch as I crossed the mat. Told myself to take advantage of crowds to avoid starting out too fast. Didn't fully work.

Km 2 (4:30) too fast
First hill so I figured I could use it to free myself up a little bit. Passed a few going up, ran hard and HR hit the 180's, but got re-passed by many on the flats.

Km 3 (4:57) on pace
Samba ensamble. Settled into my pace.

Km 4 (5:23) too slow
Mind started wandering. Lost focus a bit, maybe because I'm no longer used to running at high heart rates.

Km 5 (5:34) too slow (25:11 5k)
Mayde popped up right behind me. We crossed the 5K line together about 11 seconds later than planned.

Km 6 (5:02) on pace
I wanted a negative split so I just barely picked up the pace. My girl couldn't keep up, unfortunately. She finished the whole race in 51:43, a PB for her by a few seconds.

Km 7 (5:30) too slow
Mind drifting again, lost focus for a while.

Km 8 (5:15) too slow
Picked it up a bit, but not enough. I shouldn't be able to sing along to the bands as I run: "...excuse me while I kiss the sky"...Hendrix, not what I expected from a Venezuelan band but it rocked!

Km 9 (5:30) too slow
Wanted to run at about 5min/km, but it wasn't in me. If it was, I just couldn't find it. One last short hill.

Km 10 (3:52) too late for speed.
Was a little pissed that I couldn't go sub-50min., so I ran as hard as I could until the finish. Felt like puking for a few seconds afterwards. Must have passed close to 100 runners in that last KM!


After neglecting the run since June, I tried to get my act together in recent weeks. But it was too little, too late.

I may have some residual tiredness from last weekend's bike race, but didn't feel tired during the race...it's just that my body is not used to running faster than the 6min/km I usually train at; therefore, the splits were so different from km to km. Cannot afford to neglect the run.

Live music every second km and a full-fledged concert afterwards. Nice.

Seeking revenge on the 12th of November. Doing another 10K and going sub-50. ;)