Notes
Decided to skip the long run to let the swelling in my foot go down. Physical Therapist on Friday thinks the issue is an inflamed bursa and not tendonitis. Basically the treatment is IB Profin and icing, but said running wont cause damage but may slightly delay the healing. Recommended skipping the long run this weekend. I had already taken an unscheduled off day on Friday, then chose spin class on Saturday for another day of rest. Then opted for the 5K over the 18 miler.
Conditions were pretty nice for the race. Temps were mid to upper 40's, little sun, and not too much wind. This can be a fast course and if I were healthy and in ideal shape, this is a place here sub 16 is possible.
Race started out fast with a guy from GLRR and some kids jumping to the front. I sat back slightly to let the kids come back over the upcoming me. Me and a guy from Southern Maine worked with each other sharing the load over the first mile as we approached the first (and pretty much only hill). Surprisingly, one of the kids from up front was hanging onto 2nd place. First mile came through at 5:10, which is where I was aiming to hit (early on, we were closer to 5 min pace).
Made the turn to run along the river and the lead pack had broken up with Lowell pulling away slightly and the kid in orange falling off but still running strong. I had a step lead on Maine for third. Probably the toughest part of this race is running along the river. While there was low wind today, it's just a long straight stretch that drags on. We came through mile 2 a little slower at 5:16 pace. My hopes of going sub 16 had now evaporated. Wasnt expecting to pull it off today, but would have been nice.
Just past the 2 mile mark, I was beginning to tire and I let Maine take the lead of our pack of two. I figured I could draft for a bit as we were in the "headwind" section (remember, it was pretty mild so not a huge advantage here). I was really starting to tire our and counting traffic lights ahead to see where we would turn. My drafting quickly turned into a 1 second gap, then 2 seconds. I saw 2nd place had fallen further back from the leader and got a brief hope of being able to reel him in. I went to dig down deep to make a good push but the tank was empty. Instead I went into survival mode of just hanging onto my place.
We made the turn onto the final stretch and had zero kick. I had aready let the gap extend to 4 seconds by the time we turned and Maine was finishing strong. It was too late to catch him. I just maintained pace and finished with a disappointing 4th and 16:22. Overal I'm not disappointed with the finishing time, just disappointed in my slow finish. Usually I can finish races strong, but the last mile was clearly my slowest without any real push at the end. Need to work a litte more on strength (mental and physical) to get back to finishing strong.
So at the end of the day, I'm pretty happy with the time since it means I'm pretty close to being back in shape. Just need to find that closing gear again.
Foot didnt feel great during the race but not terrible. Was limping slightly right after we finished but hopefully some ice and NSAIDs will fix that.