Short version:

Time: 20:00 (6:08/6:36/6:35/5:27 kick)(25 second PR!!!)

Place :1/72 (first win!!!)

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/258297474

Long version:

I went into today’s race with some swagger (can a 43 year old use this word?) I was the only person there shirtless and the only one in split shorts. The other people were intimidated by me. Several were commenting that I looked like a “serious runner”. I used their comments to help fuel my fire. I went in the attitude that I was going to kick everyone’s butt. The temperature was a little on the warm side at sunny and 70 degrees. Honestly, I was surprised that I was the only shirtless one.

I was pumped during my warm up. I did .8 miles at a 7:17 pace. I was getting even more confident and thinking “this was going to be my day”. My goal was 20:20 but my bigger goal was to win the race. I have never won a race before. I sized the field and there were a few strong runners, but they seemed intimidated by me.

My strategy was to go back to the rabbit approach. A very fast first mile, bank some time, and hold on for dear life in miles two and three. I quickly took the lead in the race and looked down at my watch to see myself running at a sub-6 pace. My first half mile was done at a 5:45 pace. After that first half mile, I would slow down some to race speed. My total time through mile 1 was 6:08. The fastest race mile I have ever ran and some time was banked.

In mile two the heat started getting to me a little. I hit the turnaround at 9:56. I thought to myself that I was going to PR and win. As I turned I got a good luck at the competition. There was one person about 20 seconds behind me. He would be in pursuit the rest of the race. My mile two time was 6:36. I loved the encouragement from the other races after the out and back. It was fun being in first place during an out and back.

Mile three was very tough. I could hardly keep my eyes open. The heat was getting to me. I was running at about a 6:42 pace for most of it. I looked behind me a couple times and my competition was slowly getting a little closer to me. My thoughts were to keep moving as fast as I could and just get to 2.9. If I could hold the lead until 2.9, then there was no way he would catch me with my kick. He would never get closer than about 10 seconds behind.

My body didn’t want a final kick, but I was determined to bust 20:20. I threw in the top gear at 2.9 miles and started feeling better as the adrenaline set in. With the kick thrown in mile 3 paced 6:35. After I passed the 3 mile marker, I could see the clock in the distance. I was thinking that the clock should have been around 20:00. To my surprise it was at 19:40. I gave it all I had the last .1 miles and my kick speed was 5:27. I crossed the line at 20:02. Since they made us start about 10 feet behind the starting line. My chip time was 20:00.

I am so happy. I gave it everything I had. It took me about 40 minutes to recover after the race.

Gratz Dan.  I know you have been focused on the 5k distance from your posts, and glad to see it pay off.  A sub-20 is very, very respectable for your age group.  To top it off with a win - priceless.  Love the fact you were shirtless - mighta been those abs that scared the other runners, not the lack of clothing - hehe.   Can't wait to see a 10k time - are you gonna try to run that distance soon?

Dan - SMOKIN' fast race!!  What an amazing job!!  Congrats!!

Thanks bozydeco, AprilRunner, Awood_Runner, and Pinktastic.

fourouta5 - I did a 10k last April in 45:56. I might do another one in June.

Thanks MItch.

Congrats on the win and the PR, Dan!  Winning a race is something that most of us will never accomplish.  Pretty cool that you got to experience that.

Nice win and PR Dan! I'm not that fast but I may have to take my shirt off next time and see what reaction I get.......probably a lot of giggles

Wow, 20-flat? Congrats on the win. I used to love that strategy of starting like a bat outta hell and then hanging on for dear life. I'm not sure what's best for me though, I'll need to experiment some more.