Notes
Perfect day for a race! Temps were cool in the beginning of the day, with a light breeze. Everything leading up to this race was the opposite of the Valentine 5k. I felt good all weekend and workouts have been great. My leg's recovered and my stomach was feeling good.
I'm getting better about knowing that I deserve to be up front, but I still have a little bit lacking for self-confidence on the start line. When the gun went off it took me a couple steps to cross the line and I settled into a big pack of about 15-25 with Louis Serafini way up front. It felt really easy and my muscles were feeling light and relaxed. The pack began to split into 2 and I bridged the gap around 5min in, a good sign of my mental strength at that point. Just before hitting the 2nd mile I felt the group slow up. I didn't want to make another dumb move, but I still felt like I had a lot left in me and a 4:45 mile didn't seem that far fetched.
Unfortunately we had split 9:42 for the first 2 miles so I was calculating another 4:51 would be a 15:05. I moved to the front of the pack because I was still feeling like I had a lot left in me and figured that a 4:40 to put me sub-15 wasn't that impossible. I just get pushing every time someone came up on my shoulder. With about 1/2 a mile to go I got passed by 5 guys. It wasn't crushing because I knew I wasn't slowing down. I kept them in sight and held on. I got passed by 2 more guys with about 400 to go, which put me in 8th. I had a great kick coming down the home stretch and finished in 7th, closing in 4:36 or so.
The best part was how mentally strong I felt throughout the race. I stayed focus and never let up. I wish I had run more even splits, but the fact that I could hang up with the leaders and not back down was a huge boost to my confidence. I feel like I keep needing to remind myself that I'm a runner again. If there was any doubt before, this race should prove definitively otherwise. It's good to be back.