So I had my 5K today - not the result I was hoping for, but I think there were a couple of factors: 1) it was pretty warm out and 2) I am still about 10 pounds heavier than I want to be. Add to those to that I am probably still recovering from the marathon, and you have a recipe for a slower race. We got there about 7:00, the sun was up and it was starting to heat up. I ran the course once nice and easy for a warmup, then got ready. As I lined up at the starting line, I overheard two guys talking about their 1500m times - around 3:50. I kinda figured this was going to be a faster race than last year. At the start, I was in about 3rd or 4th place, with the two speedsters already building a lead on everyone. I had forgotten my Garmin, so I don't have any splits, although I have a feeling I may have gone out too fast and died at the end. At about the 1/2 mile mark, a guy without a shirt put in a surge and caught the third place guy. Another guy was running right next to me up until the turnaround point where he got ahead of me. Right about 9:00 at the halfway mark. I hung with him, and at about 2 miles, I started to pull away slightly. At this point, I was really laboring with my breathing, and my legs were feeling kind of heavy. I kept pushing, knowing I wasn't going to catch the 4th place guy, but hoping for a top-5 finish. However, the guy behind me caught up to me and surged ahead with about 1/4 mile to go. I couldn't keep up with him today. Hit the finish line in 18:40, almost 30 seconds slower than my post-HS PR from earlier this year. I was disappointed at first, but due to the reasons I listed earlier, I was pretty happy with my effort. I need to start packing in the miles and shedding that extra weight. I'm not sure that I can get down to 155 - we will have to see - but I am certain I should be able to get down to at leat 160. I am going to be joining our local fitness center so that I can use their facilities and run during my lunch hour - this will let me get in an extra 5-6 miles per day and not have to run at night. I will be running some more miles later on today. | 