Riverwalk Run 5 Mile

25:46, 1st Place Overall

3-25-2006; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (7:00AM) ~windy
SPLITS- 5:07, 10:17 (5:10), 15:28 (5:10), 20:40 (5:12), 5:04

* Very pleased with this effort. Wanted to run, 1) smart, 2) strong and 3) fast. Smart, as in that I wanted to go out relaxed and comfortable, yet within my powers. Strong, in that, I wanted to not fade as the race progressed. And, fast, as in, I wanted to run around 5-minute pace.

As I head off to the race, I get a last-second e-mail from Irish Joe Monks, warning me of a huge money race at Tradewinds Park at 6:30PM tonight and that I should by-pass this 5-Miler. Well, a cold front (70's) had moved in, and so instead of bailing on the 5-Miler, I figured this would be a great opportunity for a super-compensation day. Run 5 Miles at Marathon Pace (5:25-5:30) or better, and then come back 12 hours later for a 5K at the same, if not, much better pace. Thus, I would have 8 miles of faster than Marathon pace in the bag and close to 20 miles on the day.

So... with that in mind, I played it extra safe this morning. Went out relaxed, like a strong jog behind two Runner's Depot athletes, one with which I was familiar, a South African Triathlon stud that won the A1A Half Marathon in 72-minutes the day I won the full, and the other runner I was not sure about (ends up he's training for Boston as well). Anyway, I keyed off of them the first mile, which was surprisingly passed in 5:05 or so and I was proud that I kept the effort and did not press. I figured, a couple of more 5:05's and no one should be left. That wasn't the case. By two miles in 10:15, the tall (6'3?) South African was still "leading" and looking comfortable, so I accelerated a little and took the lead. He followed. We wound our way around the course, with myself keeping the pace honest and the South African using his Triathlete skills to the max, drafting off of me perfectly in the 10+mph gusty winds. I ran into a little trouble by 3 miles on a minor downhill (not a good sign for Boston, by the way) - it was a big speedbump in a neighborhood - but I relaxed and just kept it going.

Finally, we turned onto the final mile with 5K runners running opposite of us and I just took off, needing to break the Triathlete before the final major climb up the causeway because I feared 1) with his cycling background, he would be stronger on the ups, and 2) being so tall he could pull away from me on the downhill and there was something about him that I did not want to get into a kick with him... plus, I had the 5K later tonight to save for. Thankfully, my surge worked perfectly and I attacked the bridge well, ran down it okay, and finished strongly in 5:05 or so to gap him by almost 20-seconds in the last mile.

A fun race and a fun finish. It has been a while since I have been pressed and dogged an entire race, but I was proud to have come through the battle the victor, as I kept reminding myself, I am the runner, he is the triathlete."

So, we shall see where tonight leaves us... I'll take anything under 15:40..