Notes
Smaller crowd than last year. Not sure all who is in 5k and 10k but know Bramlett and I are 10k'ers it and Andy J and Steve S both 5K'ers. Not sure what distance JW doing but he got to the race late so may be pacing someone.
Nice morning and around 35 degrees with 8-9 mph wind during race. My plan is to run first 2K of the race with Bram as I figure he will go out around 6:30 pace then punch it down to my current (?) 10K threshold pace for rest of the race. Basically making it a 5 mile race effort after a tempo warmup 2K. Should give me some good feedback on where I currently am at the 5 mile distance and how well I can hold 6:05-6:10 threshold race pace. Tell him my plan pre-race and he seems OK with it. My plans won't affect/alter his racing strategy any and I am doing it to keep from running entire 10k hard to decrease my post-race recovery.
Race starts, AJ bolts out followed by some older guy we don't know and Steve S then Bram/myself. Old dude fades at about 300m mark. Steve S still out pretty quickly and we are hanging back at 6:35-6:38 pace at the half mile mark. Start to pick it up a little and my legs are wanting to punch it down at about the 3/4 mile mark; Maintain discipline and keep with my pre-race strategy and maintain mid-6 pace through 2K. We go through 1 mile garmin split at 6:32 and through 1.22 mark in 7:53 for 6:28 ave pace through 2K.
Fist bump at this point and tell Bram I am heading out. Immediately increase the turnover but concentrate on not running the next mile any faster than 6:11-6:12 and believe I can average 6:07-6:10 for the remaining 5 miles if I am in the aerobic shape I suspect at this time and dont go sub-6 on any of the miles. Next mile split 6:11 (2.22 mile mark). Come to the turnaround point of the race at 20:05. Decent time and looking to negative split second half of race by at least a minute. The mile markers on the course are off based on my garmin time so now just watching my average pace. Next mile split at 3.22 miles = 6:09. Still feeling pretty darn good at this point in the race so continue looking ahead and working the turnover. Mile split at 4.22 miles = 6:01. A little fast. Next mile split at 5.22 miles = 6:02; working pretty hard now but turnover still going well and not feeling my hips tighten up too badly. Goal for the final mile is not to fade even though now running deep in race at what is probably a few seconds above my LT line. Last split = 5:46 for .97 miles for a 5:56 pace. Wanted to go sub-6 but still controlled effort enough last 150m that I dont think I toasted my legs. Across the finish line in 38:02. Final 5 miles around 30:15.
Garmin distance of 6.19 miles. Bram had 6.20 miles on his watch. Course accurate as promised.
Bramlett rolls through the line at 40:06 for second OA. CBEGM with a great day to start off 2016 season while getting a good workout and some great feedback on our current fitness levels.
Finish the running day off with a cooldown with AJ and Bram then go into Arena building and chat with the locals while having some tomato soup, gatorade and good coffee.
Age-graded % for 6.19 miles = 78:7%
Age-graded time for distance = 33:49