Yesterday was my first 5k race, the 7th Annual Run for Nancy's Kids to benefit the Nancy's Kids Fund, a fund that supports Charter Oak Health Center at CCMC Primary Care Center patients whose families have basic critical needs (e.g. cribs, clothing, food, bills, etc.). Overall, I took 2nd place (1st in my age group) with a time of 19:30 (6:17/mile).
To start, they DID run the race in the counter-clockwise direction. I was hoping for the clockwise, but oh-well. I figured I could still probably run sub-21. The guy who won came in with a time of 18:13, so there was no chance I was going to catch him. I did however seem to maintain a pretty steady pace throughout. I don't know what my 1-mile time was, but I crossed the 2-mile mark at 12:59 (6:30/mile) and was amazed that I had done so. I had passed into 2nd place just at the 2-mile mark and that guy stayed within 100 feet of me for most of the last mile. It was a battle just to maintain my faster pace because he looked like he was more of a sprinter and I didn't want to get passed right at the end. The downhills over the last mile came in handy and I put a little more distance between us, coming in at 19:30, a solid 5:54 3rd mile.
Overall, I was (and still am) thrilled with my time. I now know I can push a 19:30 5k and most likely even a sub-19 with a bit more push. I have one more 5k scheduled at the moment, the UCHC South Park 5k, which benefits the UConn School of Medicine Outreach Clinic run by medical students and local volunteer physicians. My guess is that this race (based on results from previous years) will have a tighter competition, so I should have my chance to be pushed there. Then after that is the Hartford Half Marathon.
I love racing!
Ciao!
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