One up

If that's what CGB is doing right now, without training, I'm in trouble once he gets motivated. Congrats to him on a blistering 5k run. 18:17 is just. plain. fast.

Not to be outdone by CGB's recent defeat by a girl in a 5 mile race, I went out yesterday and got myself beat by two girls in a five mile race. The race was the Jubilee CityFest 8k, the city's big annual race. The event offers prize money, and thus attracts some very good runners from around the state. The course is extremely hilly. Indeed, the first two miles are mostly uphill.

I have not done any speed work since the duathlon, more than a month ago, but I have done a lot of riding. Thus, I was strong, but slow. Every time we climbed I gained on the race leaders. Then we would hit a flat stretch and they would all pull away from me as if my feet were sealed in concrete. Two women passed me on a flat stretch in mile 3. Shortly thereafter, we climbed a rather steep hill and I gained back all the ground I had lost on them. Then the terrain leveled off, and they shot ahead. I think I must have deflated like a leaky balloon. I ended up running that mile in 7 minutes even, by far my slowest mile. I got my mojo back in mile 4, which was all downhill. I ran mile 5, a long, straight stretch with medium-sized rollers, in 6:06.

The result: 32:26, 12th overall. My pacing was so inconsistent that I didn't really have a pace; I had paces. Several of them. I probably looked like a rookie out there. I sure felt like one. Not my best day. Fortunately, we're not done yet with this 10k challenge.