New 5K PR

This morning's Run The Woodlands 5K went well. I clocked a new personal record (PR) of 20:48.

It was a cool morning. But I warmed up soon after the start. I worked my way through the small group of runners to the front of the pack. (One of the entertaining aspects of The Woodlands run for me is the fact that I can stay with the frontrunners for awhile, if I choose to.) I found myself in second place 2/3 mile into the run. My pace was a bit faster than I wanted and I knew that I'd pay for it later. I dropped to third then fourth place during the second mile as my pace slowed from 6:27 over the first mile to 6:56 for the second. I had planned to hold the second mile at 6:45 but just wasn't able to do it. Over the last mile I was passed by a few other runners even though I held my third mile pace at 6:55 (my plan was for 7:00). I ended with a decent kick over the final 0.1 mile. I covered it in 0:29. I finished in 9th place.

My stomach started bothering me about half way into the race. I haven't had that problem before. It just felt like my stomach was empty even though I ate earlier this morning. I'm not exactly sure what to make of that situation.

On the one hand I'm pleased with the run after not training for 6 days (that's the longest break I've taken since March). On the other hand, it seems like I can do better. There's some time to be had over that second mile. I'm closer to my 20:30 5K goal. Of all the goal times, I've laid out for myself I expect this one to be the easiest to reach.

FOOTNOTE: The anticipated dual with Cameron never materialized as Cameron found himself afflicted with the common teenage malady that I call "mattress-itis". You know that's the one where a person finds a mattress attached to their back in the morning and are unable to free themselves from it. My guess is that he knew he wasn't ready for the challenge so he just folded before he found himself embarrassed.