My Petty Concern for Speed (Read 455 times)

Well, I can't seem to post here with any regularity however I regularly get some good advice when I do post, so here I am again. I have a petty problem that is occupying my thoughts a little too much so I thought I'd get it resolved here. I'm running in my local race this weekend (5K) and although I don't have a design on winning, I'd like to make a decent show to all those people who really are not paying any attention to how fast (or not) I'm going. My problems are twofold: I have been sick for over a week now and have not done any kind of exercise. I imagine I will be good to start running again on Wed., with the race on Sat AM. I'd be happy to take pre-race running suggestions. My second problem is probably nothing that anyone can advise me on however I will share my concern and if anyone has suggestions &/or observations, I certainly would welcome them. I am not much of a racer due to various reasons and am not really sure about my 5k pace. I had been aiming for 26minutes however I have not done that pace regularly in quite some time. My previous races at these paces were very hilly so I initally thought it might be very do-able. My most recent times show I have slowed down considerably (although I had put in no effort to "go faster" as it were - I had begun to concentrate on logging the miles vs the speed). So that all said, if someone has a comment or two, great. However right now my game plan is to just load up some fast and inspirational tunes and and just do it in 26 (at least I'll try). Thanks in advance everyone!

Thanks for replying. I'll be sure to have a good time, as I try to pick races in that I'm somewhat confident fun times will be involved. About my illness, it's a sinus infection that has now moved into the cavity at the top of my nose. I'm on day 8 or 9 and am still prone to some sinus headaches and dizzyness. I may head out and do a slow, short run tommarow to see how I feel. I'm sad to say that as of now, going up the stairs tires me and makes my head ache more.