Notes
Sometimes it's better to be smart than fast. Picking the right races is a bit of an artform, which I've nearly perfected.
I redeemed myself a bit from my tumble during a 5k two weeks ago by once again going sub-23 (22:56; first time since June 9th's 22:54) and winning my age group. Finished 5th overall. Haven't seen the official results yet, but I'm guessing there were 100-150 runners in the 5k.
It was fun to see my old high school again, after so many years. For a small event, this one was very well planned. There was an announcer calling out everyone's name at the finish. Lots of free food (whole bananas, oranges, bagels, sub sandwiches, Starbucks coffee) and swag (came home w/2 new sports water bottles, free Subway coupon, etc.) This was a much more enjoyable race, for a variety of reasons, than my previous one.
My splits didn't go quite as planned, though. There was a big downhill at the half mile mark, then a big uphill at mile 2.5.
Splits were - 7:28, 7:24, 7:31, 5:50 pace for last .1
We finished on the track (3/4 of a lap) and I had to sprint to get under 23 minutes. Hopefully I'll stay under that the rest of my 5k's this year (3 more...I think.)