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| Start of the race. This and all photos by Krissy K. |
The Skinny
15K time - 53.04
place - 3
pace - 5.42
splits
1 5.38
2 5.40
3 5.37
4 5.47
5 5.53
6 5.31
7 5.46
8 5.47
9 5.33
.3 1.48
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| Mile 7 |
The Report
Quick gun at the start and we were off before a zeroed out my watch. That said, the mile split was still slower than I anticipated and should've known right then and there that I wasn't going to be able to hit the splits I wanted. I honestly thought I was in shape to run 5.30 pace but a 5.38 first mile and 11.18 through 2 had me quickly off my goal.
The first few miles I was running in a lead pack that included eventual winner Matt Haringa, Sam Jurek, teammate Joe Shairs, and a couple other guys. Dan Verrington and Jason Porter, both of CMS, were right there too. This group didn't start to break up until around mile 4 which is the industrial park section of the race.
Going up the hill leading up to the turnaround, Haringa was running easy and chatting it up. Of course, this didn't register at the time, but it did once he took off on that same hill; this time running it as a descent. Hitting the 5th mile in 28.33 was a psychological killer. A minute off where I thought I might be. Still, I remember what DV saying prerace about the 2nd 5K being the toughest and stayed optimistic for a rebound. By mile 6, Haringa and Jurek had spaced themselves out pretty good with the former looking dominant. Jurek I thought might still be catchable if he fell apart in the last 4K. He didn't.
I felt good, hard but good, over the last two miles, so am disappointed to see that my splits were in the mid 5.40s. I mean, come on, I've been doing tons of pace work/threshold work at a faster pace than this. What's going on? I felt strong but the splits just weren't there. I kept it honest over the last 2.3 of the race but I knew I wasn't going to hit the time I wanted. I was already thinking about why I was running "so slow" despite my perceived effort.
Had good post race cooldown and banter w/ my CMS mates. Joe, Jason, Dan, and I took to the Lynn Woods for a great 3 mile cooldown that had us all on the edge of bonking. It was good too to see Jim Pawlicki and Krissy K, who once again took amazing photos. Some good talk about Level Renner. This magazine might catch on yet.
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| The finish |
