7.15 mi, 1:00:53, 8:31 avg
Ran from my house over to the new park on Trinity Blvd, doing two loops around the lake once I got there (each loop about 0.72 miles), stopped for the water fountain and took a gel, then did another loop before heading home. First mile on the way out was 10:25, which had started out even slower with dead leg feelings which I gradually shook off.
On the way back after slowly increasing my pace to around 8:00, I felt a small stab in my knee - I had let my form get sloppy and I had a lot of tight muscles. Stopped and stretched briefly, then continued on at a little slower pace and with more care.
Made it home ok and overall happy with the run.
PM - Drove up to Suncoast Technical High School in Brooksville to see Tom run with the cross country team. I got there just before the boys race started, ran to near the starting area and was about to go closer when the race started. I started the timer on my phone but was about 12 seconds late. I followed the coach and ran with him to the 1 mile marker, timed 5:40 for the first mile (which was really 5:52), then ran to the 2 mile marker and waited there. Mile 2 was 6:15. He was running just ahead of Spencer by a few feet. 3 mile marker was near the entrance to the track. This time I saw Spencer but he was with a different Mitchell teammate and slightly ahead. Tom was close by. He ran into the track where I lost sight of him but someone else could see better and called out when he crossed the finish. I had 18:51 on my timer (not 100% sure at that time if I was exactly 12 seconds off), later found out, yes I was, finish time was 19:03, a new PR! I know he was trying to break 19:00 today, but it was 13 seconds faster than old PR and last two meets were in 19:30's.
I was watching some of the kids finish and how some get passed by someone outkicking them. That has happened to me quite a bit. In most cases, the passer has built up too much momentum and there's not enough time for the passee to catch back up. This has happened to me quite a few times. So, what I do now is pick a spot a little earlier than where I think someone might try to outkick me, and pretend there's someone trying to pass me already, so I'm able to outkick my invisible opponent and fend off any actual passers while also bettering my time by maybe a few seconds.
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