Notes
First race since the Farm, Field, and Orchard 5k in November 2010. I'm satisfied with my performance, but of course disappointed a bit because I want to be faster.
Mile 1: 6:10 - I started a little more aggressively than I planned, but I felt pretty well under control. I started a few rows back from the line, so I kind of had to fight in the first 300 meters, but everything strung out after that.
Mile 2: 6:05 - Still feeling overall relaxed, with a pretty easy breathing rhythm through this one. I passed a ton of people who went out too fast, which of course felt great. There was a gradual hill in this mile, but it was followed by a gradual downhill so it evened out.
Mile 3: 6:20 - This was the unbearable mile. I had caught a guy right at the 2 mile mark and we started racing each other for the rest of the run. There was a MASSIVE headwind for a lot of this mile, as well as a bit of an uphill with no real downhill following. My pace took a hit here, while my effort level felt higher even holding the slower pace.
Mile 4: 6:19 - Another tough mile, lots of wind and I was already pretty tired. The guy I was racing started dropping me with about a half mile left, but I caught him with around 300m to go and we sprinted it out, but he got me. I love racing!
Overall, not a bad result for my first race in over two years. I was aiming for 25:00 or so, but I was also hoping to surprise myself. I think if there wasn't so much wind today I'd have run at least 15 seconds faster, but I'm satisfied with the race. Good to have a benchmark to compare against for workouts, as well as for races in the future.