Jog Into Spring 5K

More like Jog Into Winter as it was about 25F when the gun went off! That said, it was one of those beautiful sunny days with very little wind and after jogging most of the course for my warm up, I knew this would be a fast early season race as it was virtually flat. I felt really good in my warm up and after a few strides I was anxious to go. As usual I locked right into my 5K pace instead of sprinting out like most people do, but by the mile mark I was clearly in second place, running alongside a high school runner who also went out conservatively. We hit the mile mark in 5:38 and I felt really good so I tried to push it ever so slightly more. The kid stayed with me and we sort of jockeyed back and forth and rolled into the 2 mile at 11:14. I still felt really good (where was all this sharpness 2 weeks ago?) and decided that I needed to try to pull away sooner rather than later as I didn't want it to come down to a kick at the end. I pushed hard for about a half mile and for awhile I thought I opened a gap, but the kid pulled up to me again and gapped me a little. I caught him again with about 200 to go and tried to outsprint him, but he just had more wheels than me and beat me by a second. In any case, I ended up with a 17:24, which I was really happy with. Much better Age-graded performance than the 5 miler 2 weeks ago. I was 3rd overall and first in my age group. Really enjoyed this race in Independence. The course was great and well marked and it was accurate. People who wore Garmins had it right at 3.12. That doesn't always happen with Cleveland races!

Next up is the Meteor 10K in Michigan in 2 weeks. Last year I ran 36:06 for my PR and I would REALLY like to get under 36 this year. Feeling good and motivated.