New Year’s Day 5-Mile Run

I fell asleep last night around 11:30, and instead of appearing like a deadbeat I could just say that I was prepping for this morning’s race. Cindy, Tony and myself get to the race, in a Dallas park called Flagpole Hill, in plenty of time. It’s a run about the size of your average weekend 5k on the Drives in Philly, and it’s a similar atmosphere, with lots of camaraderie among apparent regulars in the Dallas running scene.

I see that the race logo is an almost abstract depiction of a younger looking guy with a “2006” bib number crossing the finish just before an older looking guy with a “2005” bib number. When I register I’m prepared to request number 2005 until I see that their bibs don’t go into four digits.

At the starting line I look around for likely competitors. I talk to one of them, a college cross-country looking type, he warns me that an early morning drizzle has left the course slippery. I thank him and we wish each other luck. The horn blows and I have little trouble getting out front until a short, Latino looking guy bolts past me. I hang onto him for about a half mile until he fades and suddenly I’m alone. First mile goes by in 5:29, right at goal pace, and I settle in with that haunted feeling of having the lead with a long way to go. The course is now on a bike path and is indeed slick, and mile 2 passes in 5:47. I sneak a peek behind me and can barely see the #2 guy. The race gets lonely now. At the turnaround I see that I have at least a 400 meter lead and ease up a little. Mile 3 is in 5:58, Mile 4 in 6:08; and Mile 5 in 6:05. However, the slower I go, the longer my lead gets. I finish in 29:27, the second place guy (also a master) finishes in 32 something.

A day where I feel better about my finishing place than about my time. Plenty of excuses to explain the latter, including the slick course, humid and warm (about 70 degrees) conditions, and a steady headwind waiting for me at the turnaround. But the bottome line is that I just couldn’t keep it in 5:30 gear with a lead like that. So I put on my B game and cruised in at marathon pace. As per the Southern stereotype, people were friendly and congratulatory toward me, an outsider, and expressed admiration at a finishing time that I wasn’t particularly proud about. But that is my problem, and in a time of year that is the running equivalent to exhibition season, its not a particularly big problem.

Warmed up for a mile and cooled down for another 4, giving me 10 miles total for the day. Also got in a good spell of Hacky-Sack with Tony, which is a good way both to warm up and to wait for the awards ceremony. Cindy, as always, was the #1 fan. And now I can kick back for the rest of the day.

We return to Philly tomorrow.