Notes
About as good as it gets today. Took off 19 seconds from Sept 18th's race in North liberty and actually watched myself slow down and couldn't do a thing about it except try harder (and that probably worked to an extent).
Perfect weather. A little unorganized and new race (and director and helpers). Good thing I had run this same route last month. The Pelsang brothers were at this race. They always bring their mom and she sits near the finish line and roots everyone on. They are around 45 and 39 years old and run like the wind. They placed 1st and 2nd and I was 4th behind a younger runner I almost caught at the end, but it was awkward. The race was supposed to end where it started, but the race director insisted everyone take a lap around the pond (another .25 or .5 mile). I stopped my watch at the 3.1 mark, so I didn't get the distance on the rest of the race.
About .25 from the actual finish line I thought I could catch this guy, but I knew we were going around the lake and so I found it really difficult to sprint at the end when everyone else didn't think it was the end. In anycase I just stayed behind the guy, ran a little faster for my time, but didn't catch him and when we crossed they said, "OK, around the pond!" Not sure I had much left anyway, but it was a little strange. I didn't know what to think, but I used it as part of a cool down and took the 3.1 on my watch as my race time today. I measured it on a map and it looks like it was an extra .45.
Miles: 6:25, 6:38, 6:45, and my last .1 I did at a 6:40 pace. I was between 6:15 and 6:35 until the 1.75 mark and that's where I started to see 6:50 and 6:45 and even a 7:01 at one point. I would get it back to around 6:25-6:30, but not for long and I'd be back at around 6:40-6:45 again.
My garmin does peak pace, too, and those were between 5:26 and 6:01 for all laps, so I know it's in there somewhere.
There were no awards and they didn't have any kind of posting of times. Kind of a let down, but the money went for a good cause I guess and James and Louis Pelsang once again proved to be strong runners. These two run in the 18's 19s. I was with them for a short time during the first mile and kept them in sight, but they finished a good 45-60 sec ahead of me.
In retrospect: I improved on the same course from 20:38 to 20:19 in a month. In fact, take my last 4 5K races:
21:00, 20:40, 20:38 and now a 20:19. My 3rd best time ever on a 5K and improved 19 seconds. Next 5K in Sigourney for Veteran's Day Memorial 5K. Should be a fun race. My brother, Mike, ran his first 5K today in a long time and finished with a 20:46. Way to go Mike!