Notes
Eager Beaver 5k in Wilton. Rick and Nutmeg got off the line a little faster than me so I worked around a couple people to get right behind them after a half mile or so. During the rest of the first mile we caught the high school kid leading the race and I was able to get more comfortable than I had expected. I really haven't been feeling very good and was lacking confidence after the 5th seasons 8k went so poorly. So typically I try to make a move at about the halfway point of the race, but this year I had planned on just keeping pace until closer to the end and planning on just trying to win with a kick.
Shortly after the halfway point I started to get a step on Rick though. I didn't feel like I had changed the pace at all so after I saw a little crack in Rick I decided to press the issue. I put in a little surge that got me a few feet of separation but I didn't feel like committing to it so I settled back into my previous pace and Rick and Nutmeg surged back up to me. So I went back to waiting until later. And about 200m from the 2 mile mark I got another step on Rick. I was feeling a lot better than I had expected so I decided to make another move. This got a gap quicker this time I tried to get settled into this faster pace for the rest of the race instead of slowing back down. Nutmeg didn't come with me and I wasn't really able to see what was happening behind me to tell if Rick or Nutmeg were in second. At 2.5 miles I checked over my shoulder on a couple turns and noticed Rick had a little gap on Nutmeg. My lead was a sure thing but I knew if I could even keep close to my pace I should be fine. I continued to try to keep it up the rest of the race and must have done a pretty solid job since I ran my fasted time here by a second.
Overall I'm really happy with the race. I was really unsure of how it would go, and honestly it felt pretty much the same as the last couple of years. My breathing still feels a little off but this was a really good step in the right direction. I've run between 15:21-15:23 almost every year I race here, and while I definitely know it is short and probably closer to high 15s -16 flat I still feel really good about that time.