| | I asked myself this question as I toed the line for the start of the Doc Sears Fall Classic 5-miler yesterday morning. 5k - just go all out, it will be over soon enough. 50k - start out slow and then taper, there's a lot more trail ahead! But 5 miles??? How do you pace for that?
I had yet to determine the answer when the RD yelled start, and we were off. Several men and a couple women pulled ahead immediately, and I fell into a decent clip just a bit behind Kyle. I decided I would try to keep up with him as best I could - drafting off him, or at the very least, using him as a pacer.  We hit the first mile marker in 7:45 - WOW!! I would have to slow down if I was going to finish the race without bonking!! But somehow, I maintained the pace for the next 2 miles, despite the cold air causing me to hack and drip (EWW!).
At about mile 3, we had to climb to a bridge. There were actually switchbacks on this part of the trail, and pushing up them took its toll. As I ran over the bridge, with the traffic flying by on my right, and the river flowing slowly to my left, I became very dizzy. I tried to run with my eyes closed, but decided I would probably either fall into the water or the road, so I just dealt with the vertigo. Thanks to physics, what goes up must come down. So, on the other side of the bridge, there was a nice bit of downhill that allowed me to cruise along, catch my breath, and stretch out my legs for the final mile and a half.
I hit the 4 mile mark at 32:05 - meaning I had to run a 7:55 mile if I were to break 40 minutes, my new goal. So, I upped the cruise control and rocked out to some Gorrilaz. My lungs HURT, but my legs weren't ready to give up. We hit the final stretch, and Kyle pulled ahead (as usual), and I was able to gun it a bit more for a ~39:50 finish!! Woo Hoo! Good enough for 2nd in my age group. I was happy - I went sub 40, placed in the top, and even got a medal!! Lots of fun! 
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| | Posted 10/29/2006 7:01 PM - 1 View - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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