Rocket Run 5K 2009: Reality

It was cool and breezy; perfect for this time of year. Nevertheless, as I warmed up my legs felt heavy; warming up took a while.

Still mile 1 came at 7:34; but this was partially wind aided and downhill. Still, the fantasy felt good and I aimed to catch the big pack ahead of me.

I never did. As we gained back the elevation and turned into the wind, reality set in: 8:02 or 15:36. Breaking 24 wasn’t going to happen and sub 25 wasn’t assured.

In the last stretch the pack ahead of me started to pull away and I could do little about it; I did pass one young man who was throwing up though.

You have two uphills just prior to the finish and I saw the clock at 24:2x and I had to pick it up; I wanted an “official sub 25″ but didn’t get it; I had to settle for a “watch” sub 25.

Interestingly enough, my place at the end of 1 mile was my place in the race, save the one sick young man. I was running in “never never” land between two large packs.

Analysis: when I was running those low 24s, I was also running a couple of 7-8 mile runs a week plus a weekend race and I haven’t done that in a while For now, running will be a way of getting an aerobic workout while I work on my walking technique.

Yes, one can walk hard enough to get out of breath, but when I do that my technique just turns to trash.

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