Saturday, I decided to just go for my long ride, despite the race the next day. I cut it down to 27 miles, but it was windy. By windy, I mean 28mph southbound, 15mph northbound. Perhaps it was a little more work for my legs than I would have liked, as I saw the next afternoon...
Sunday was the Run Thru Deal race. It's a relatively old race which I first did in 6th grade. It used to be a 5 mile race, this year they changed it to a 5k to encourage more people to do it. For my current training schedule, it worked out well, as I can't race a 5 miler well yet. Weather was perfect, maybe a tad hot, but I'm a sucker for a beautiful day. The only problem I had with the whole thing was the course length - 3.24 miles. That extra .13 is noticible when you watch your time.
That's the start of the race - not too large. In the center just to the right (viewer's left) of the center line is me, with the grey and red shirt, and next to me without a shirt is my friend Paul, who I planned on running with. We went out well, hitting the mile mark at 6 minutes (below), which put me in 5th place, with the top 4 about half a block ahead. It felt really easy for me, and I wanted to break away for that pack, but I knew I'd regret it. I told myself to wait till the 1.5 mile mark, then see how I felt. I think Paul noticed that, at the water stop at 1.5 miles, he told me to go for it, and I did. I picked up the pace, and still felt golden. Then all of a sudden, I felt like crap. Paul passed me back by mile 2 (6th place), and was a full minute ahead of me by the finish. Three other people also passed me, none of whom were near us at mile 2. Final time: 20:50 (about 19:55 converted to real 5K distance).
This is us at the mile mark. I was quite disappointed with how badly I died, but know that I shouldn't be. I've only really done one hard/fast run workout, and it was less than 3 miles, part of a brick. I have a long way to go before I'm fast again, and it's not something I'm looking to rush. My next big race is Providence in July, and it's base building season. I think the cause of my frustration was how well I did at the start. For the first mile and a half, I began to believe that I was in shape and fast. Next time I'll know to be smarter about it. I should've worn my HR monitor, would've been interesting to watch.
Despite my disappointment and 9th place finish, I ended up winning the 18-29 age group, which was a nice surprise. I got a red sweatshirt, with a small embroidered "Deal 5k" in blue. I don't wear hoodless sweatshirts often, but I suppose it's nice. I also particularly liked the hot dogs after the race, of which I had three. The beer usually would be welcome, but I really wasn't up for it.
This morning was an easy bike ride, 18.5 miles. When I got up, I realized how much the race had actually taken out of me. My legs are quite sore. I still managed to keep my ride average speed over 18mph (barely), so no complaints.
I found an old bike light in my car - a 2 C-battery halogen cateye. I mounted it onto my bike - it was surprisingly bright, though a little too focused for my taste. It's still an improvement, so unless its battery life turns out to be atrocious, it'll probably be a permanent fixture for my night riding setup.
Week Ahead: Brick tomorrow, with intervals on the bike leg, and an easy run. Off Wednesday, probably a trip to the gym, as I didn't lift this weekend. Thursday, long run. Friday, easy brick. Saturday, early long ride, then likely a trip up to Connecticut to watch my school's water polo team in the championship tournament (I played goalie for them).
Next race: Trick or Trot, Sunday, October 26th. 4 miles.