After taking a month off from any training, I started up again the week before this race. This course is an old favorite of mine, one that I used to do when I was in high school, so I decided to enter and treat the day as a long speed workout to get my training jump-started again. As 5Ks go, this one is fairly tough, because of its deceptively hilly nature. Much of the second mile goes up, and it isn't until the long downhill at the end that gravity is of any help.

I lined up at the front of the huge crowd (there were 929 finishers in the 5K) but tried to stay somewhat conservative in the first mile of racing. There were guys in the race that I know I could have hung with - had I been in racing shape - that I had to let go, which was slightly frustrating. I tried to focus all of my energies on going as fast as I could manage with my sore legs. I took the hills hard, and kept one guy that was just ahead of me the whole time in my sights.

As we passed the two mile mark and the ground began to fall away ahead of us, I turned on what was left of my afterburners and stormed the downhill, opening up my stride as much as I could. I ended up passing a few guys on that last stretch to the finish to record a finish time of 17:33, good for 8th overall. I ended up only 45 seconds behind the winner, a margin that I'm sure I could have overcome if this race had been in the spring. However, this race served its purpose as speedwork (and motivation), and showed me that I can hang with the fastest guys in town.