Season Opener

Ran my first race on Saturday after a nine-week base training hiatus and finished as the fourth master at the always competitive Northcoast Challenge in Westlake with a time of 28:50. I was really happy with the race for several reasons: (1) I was a little rusty from no racing in a while; (2) I had just kicked a pretty pesky cold; and (3) I was coming off my highest mileage block as a masters runner. Last week I ran 72 miles, which was the first time I had gone over 70 as an old guy. As for the race, the plan was to go out conservatively for the first two miles and take it from there, so after hitting 2 miles in 11:46 (5:54, 5:52), I went to work and ran 5:45, 5:45, and kicked it in with a very strong 5:34. I was really happy with the last two miles as mile four is pretty much all on a grass and dirt trail and to be able to roll off of that on to pavement and crush the last mile was a great feeling. This week it's back to my now usual 65-70 range and I plan on racing again on the weekend of Sept. 19/20 as final prep for the masters 5K national championship race in Syracuse on October 4 where I hope to lower my masters PR of 16:54.