After a warm and humid week, a wonderful cold front blew through to the Gulf. Conditions this morning were as ideal as one could hope for April: 57 with a dewpoint of 52, the wind below 10 mph and overcast skies.
The starting line was very congested and I was on the edge with several traffic cones in front of me. Shortly after I cleared the starting mat, I swerved out to the right to avoid the slug of runners in front of me. This move made me start way too fast, but I was able to avoid the crowd and having to waste energy swerving around people. I knew I was way too far up in the pack, but Steve Schroeder was in front of me so I decided to try and stick with him. The first mile ended up as a 5:40. I was still feeling OK and the average heart rate for that mile was only 157. The second mile was heading south with a slight tailwind and the usual cast of chacters passed by me, but I was able to hold with Steve. Mile 2 was a 5:53 for 11:32 with an average heart rate of 169. Mile 3 was difficult. Steve passed me and I wasn't able to hold onto him. The new course has a nice long straight-away for the finish. I slowed to a 5:55 for 17:27 with the heart rate up to 173. I have no idea who was near me the last 0.11 miles, I was only concentrating on the finish line and the red numbers on the clock. The final sprint was 32 seconds at a 177 heart rate. I was disappointed to see the clock turn over to 18:00 and 18:01 as I crossed the mat. My only hope was chip time. 17:59.1! Woo-hoo!
I have to thank Steve for this race. I never would have been able to break 18 without him pulling me along.
Here are the results for the 2008 Bellaire Trolley Run 5K.
Here's the heart rate trend:
Here's the new course:
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The first quarter of 2008 has been very kind to me. This 48 year old, 185 pound, bald nuke has new PRs at 5K, 5 Miles, 10K, and the Marathon. The 5K was my first sub-18 and the 10K was my first sub-38. I never would have believed it was possible.
1 comment:
Kevin,
All of us old guys just keep getting faster. Something has got to give soon. We're posting times that would take overall masters in 5Ks of days gone by. Now they don't even merit hardware!
Great job Saturday. If I couldn't help you to a new PR at least sticking with my training partner did! I've hung with him for five years and look where it's gotten me!
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