Season Opener

My first race of 2013 was the Bogsucker Strut 5K in Twinsburg yesterday. The course has some good rolling hills with a nasty climb in the last mile -- a good early season test and opportunity to shake off the winter rust. I ended up running 17:58 (5:47 pace), which I was pretty happy with. I set 18:00 as a pre-race goal, not really knowing where I was at (too much snow this Spring to get in any of my usual 5K indicator workouts). Having not raced since December, I forgot how much racing hurts. Non-runners will sometimes tell me that 5K doesn't seem very far and why don't I try a marathon since I train so much. As I've said before, I have a need for speed -- running too long bores me. And if you actually race a 5K (i.e. truly redline), the last mile should feel miserable, like you want to drop out. Most definitely not a fun run! Anyway, I'm happy with my season opener. Next up is another 5K on April 20th on a flat, fast course. With a few weeks to get in some quality workouts -- I need to do 16 x 400 w/ 100 jogs a few times -- I should be ready to roll.I'd like to get under 17:40 -- we'll see.

The photo is of me loosening up pre-race with overall winner, Mike Giardina, who crushed it in 17:03. I'm sporting the orange Louisiana Running Company singlet in honor of the famous NOLA Crescent City Classic race that was held this weekend.