Stars, stripes and speed
Entering today’s flat race in Howland, Ohio — the Stars and Stripes 5k — I had one thing in mind: a PR. While I wouldn’t have beat myself up over not getting a PR, I knew that my faster training on hills in Virginia had to pay off on this race day. Plus coming off a good 5k a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had it in me to beat that 22:41 that I set last year.
What transpired was unbelievable. I hit the first mile in 7 minutes flat. While it was a bit faster than I would have liked to have started, I felt great. And I also felt the pressure to keep up with a guy running near me making it look far easier than I was. I passed him early on and then he passed me shortly after. We pretty much stayed together the whole time.
Keeping up with him led to a 7:18 second mile — very much on target for the PR as long as I could hold myself together in the final mile. As I hit mile 3 in 7:13, a guy pushing a stroller passed me, making life look easy. I pressed the gas pedal a little more as I hit the 3-mile mark and smoked that last tenth in 38 seconds, finishing just behind my new pal and the guy running with the stroller.
At the end of the race, my new friend and I thanked one other for pushing each other — I’m not sure if he was being competitive and wanted to beat me, or if I was pushing myself a little harder just to keep up. Whatever the reason, it led me to a 22:10 finish (maybe 22:09; official times haven’t been posted) — a 7:08 per mile pace — and puts thoughts in my head of greater things yet to come.
I won’t get into all that now though. I want to let this soak in for a while and enjoy the moment.
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That's right! Bask inthe glow!! Congratulations!
Dude you were faster than a bottle rocket!
Nice job! Isn't it great when you find someone racing at just the right pace in a race!
Those damn people and their damn strollers making it look easy. But yea KICK ASS!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!! I'm going to light some fireworks for your PR honor.
Congrats on your PR. I was the guy pacing with you, I very much appreciated the competition you offered, your early race pass pushed me to a better time than I had hoped for. Happy and safe running. Maybe will see you there next year.
Mike
Where are the results posted for the Howland Stars and Stripes Race?
Hugh,
My time was from my Garmin. I haven't seen them anywhere else yet.
Congrats on your PR !!
Do you know who timed the race?
Hugh and Mike - Here are the results: http://www.neotrail.org/starsstripes.html
Not sure how accurate they are though - it's 5 seconds better than my Garmin. I was thinking that I might be 1 or 2 seconds off, not 5. And it shows a bit gap between me and Mike when we were maybe 2 seconds away from each other.
"greater things yet to come." awesome. they are coming for you! congrats!
Congrats! So glad to hear that your Ohio race treated you SO well! Can't wait to hear more about these "greater things" you've got up your sleeve!
Thanks Alicia. I hope on a future Ohio trip I can meet up with some of you there!