Notes
Ran with the runbudz today out in Evanston. The course was 3.5 loops around a park - no elevation change. Great atmosphere - Craig Virgin was the starter, haha. I felt on the warm-up and the lead-in to the race that I was having some minor acid reflux issues. I tried to get in the mindset that that would go away once the race went off. The race started - I tried to get off at a decent push and found myself top-10, top-15 about a half mile in. Almost immediately, people were passing me and I was not responding. I hit the mile in 5:17. I think I should have taken it out a little more conservatively, but I also did not think that that was pushing it. Probably 15-20 guys passed me between mile 1 and 2 which I went through in like 11:05, so a big drop-off. At this point I was just feeling sorry for myself and counting the laps and just totally discrediting myself, which was very childish in retrospect, especially at such a low key race. I think I just maintained somewhere around the pace - got a little push in the last 800, but it was pretty weak. Didn't catch anyone, didn't get passed. Found out it was a 5K after I finished, so that made me feel a little better.
I think on a good day I would have ran close to my goal of 16:45 for the day. I was too worried about my acid reflux building and me not being able to manage it. I have to work on shaking the negative thoughts and being able to worry about what I can control. 17:10 is still the 2nd fastest 5K I have run and might actually be the fastest (depending on if my high school 5k pr was actually a 5k - the world will never know). Still have to put into perspective that I am training for a 10K and that I should have done better to control my pace easier. I think that would have at least put me under 17.