Gettin' back a little speed!

This evening I ran the third in the series of one-mile fun runs that the Howard County Striders helps put on almost every Tuesday evening throughout the summer. They typically draw a crowd of over a hundred participants of varying ages and it is low-key, costing usually now more than a buck. They are called the "Centennial Fun Runs" and they've been around for about twenty-nine years and they are really close to Centennial High School in the Ellicott City area of Howard County, MD! You can find out information and a schedule on these fun events at: http://www.striders.net It should be on the bottom of the page with the rest of the scheduled events.
Anyway, I ran this event since I was available this evening after work, so that I could get another race under my belt to bring me a little closer to getting in at least fifty races this year for the "Fifty-Plus" Club I joined the other week. Since I got off work not too long before it and did not drink as much water as I wanted, I did not really intend to race this. In fact, I wanted to run it in maybe upper fives, lower sixes, take a few minutes, than run the course again in a similar time, so that way I would have gotten some mile repeats in in addition to a race.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to have run a 5:11 instead.
There was just some great competition tonight and I ended up stayin' up with the lead pack pretty nicely, despite all the up and downhills (I'm surprised how many hills there are in just a mile's-worth of this shaded neighborhood). Back in the July of 2004, I ran about 5:08 at the Centennial Fun Run (my best time on the course to date), and then the following Tuesday, I ran a 5:11. Then, tonight, I was very happy to have tied my second-best time on the course. I have not been doing interval workouts (especially the shorter stuff) very regularly, due to an increased volume of races mainly, so I was surprised that I was able to pull at time like that off on such a challenging course :)
It was an amazing blessing and it kept me aware of how well God strengthens us and lifts us up to achieve great things, even when we're feeling weak or are burdened my doubts. My expectations were modest, but the results were far better! I wonder if ran like that in Montgomery County back in mid-April at the Gaithersburg Firebird Mile, if I would have run a bit faster than the 5:04 I ran on the flat track and perhaps have broken five minutes!!! Well, hopefully I can start hitting stronger mile times with some more interval work coming soon and continuing to stay healthy!!!
Anyway, I'm gonna hit the hay soon so I can get up early and beat the heat for an early morning run on some of the trails behind Hammond High School, where I went to high school. I'll try to post some photos from this event soon. Have a good night and thank you for reading :)