This evening since it was so nice and not humid out, I decided to go run the five-miler that the Howard County Striders were putting on that started and ended at Burleigh Manor Middle School in Howard County, Maryland. This five-miler is a hilly out-and-back course, with the first mile often producing fast splits since a good portion of it is down hill. I knew I would probably be tired from the two mile repeats yesterday evening and getting up early for work today, but I figured it was a nice night for a Strider's race and that I would just use this as more of a tempo run to ease into it. I wanted to go through the first mile in about 6:30ish and then just go from there.
Didn't quite go down that way.
I ended up goin' out what I felt was fairly conservative, but I was surprised that I went through the first mile in 5:52. After that there were some uphills and I carelessly made a few wrong turns goin' a bit longer than intended, but fortunately one gentleman who knew where he was going yelled to me and corrected me. I think had I worn my glasses and been a bit more observant, I would not have tripped up on this. I went through halfway in probably low-16's (I forgot to look at my watch), then shortly afterwards, I felt my legs fall asleep a bit (but not as bad as in some other races). I was sure it was because I had probably not eaten as much or slept as much as I wanted, but I felt strong in my upper body and it helped me to run about a 6:11 last mile. I went through four miles in about 26:22 and finished in about 32:33. It certainly was not my best time on the course (30:49 back on Sunday, January 8, 2007), but I'm fine with it considering I was tired from yesterday, my left leg is recovering from the strain-like feeling. I'm sure I could have run a lot faster had my legs not fallen asleep and I'm sure I would have broken 32:30 had I not carelessly made a couple of wrong turns, but hey, sometimes running a little extra doesn't hurt :)
I hope you all have a great night out there and are enjoying the week!
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