RAP River Run 5K
22:07, 28th overall, 1st Grand Master
It was rainy and humid before the race (low 80's). The 10k starting at 6:30 was delayed by 10 minutes, so the 5k was going to start at 7:40. But, then it started raining heavier, so they pushed the start to 8:00. Between the rain I got in a pretty short warmup (only about a half mile total). First saw Jenny and Andy, and then Tom. Saw several friends, including Joe running the 10k and Daisy was back here on vacation. I've not done nearly as much speedwork as I wanted and with the rain and various other things I didn't have right (like not having a Beet-it beet juice shot), wasn't sure how things would go.
Race started and felt ok, the line thinned out quickly and for a brief time I could see Tom up near the front and then he was too far a way to see. (just two years ago I was just a little behind him for most of the race and then snuck past him in the last mile). Robin Patterson was in front of me for a little bit but I was able to catch up to him (he's pretty serious about his 5k's and looks pretty much the same at 69 as he did at 55).
I was just sort of hanging on and I didn't have a specific pace in mind, although I was hoping to try and at least tie my time from last year. But, I was also just trying to enjoy the race. So, I just kept on trying to pass up the next person I could get to.
Got to the finish line and saw that the clock was down due to the rain. It turned out that Walter from the Striders was right behind me by 4 seconds (he's 57 and just retired from the Air Force), so I guess I had to work to win the over 50 award.
Saw Tom and then found out his time, 17:02 and second overall (beat by a 24 year old guy running 16:27), big PR. The last 6 weeks of heart rate training have really helped.
Went back to my house and did another 4ish miles.
So, overall it was a pretty fun morning.
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