I'm pretty happy with how the race turned out today. It was my neighborhood race so I had to do it, I work on the race course and I live about 2 miles from the start now. My old house was a block from the start. Kind of a weird course, just three mile loops through downtown Bremerton. But it's kind of cool because a lot of people watch, and it was a pretty good crowd in the race, maybe 100 people. A lot of kids, all the high school x-c teams used it as a workout, I think (though the competition wasn't real strong, it's just a little 5k). I got beat by the Bremerton High #1 runner and another kid who runs for someone else, as well as the guy who takes first in every local race. Anyway, on to the run itself. Two mile warm-up to the start line, picture perfect morning and temperature. Registered, then ran around the course for another mile and did a few striders. I wasn't at all sure what I could do speed-wise, it's been awhile since I've raced a 5k (other than last fall's First Dam run, it's been years). I figured I'd use it as a tempo run, just try to stay under 6 min. miles. I held a pretty consistent pace through all three, didn't feel like I was laboring, and held my position the entire race. I thought I'd catch the 3rd place guy because his form was poor and he started really fast, but he was a tough runner and didn't quit. Probably beat me by half a block, I waited about 400-600 meters too late to surge. But I kept the overall time under 18 minutes, which was a goal, and felt really strong. I just didn't have a race mindset going in. Cooled down with another mile on the course, then 2 miles back home.
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