cropperI managed to squeak-out a second place in my age group at the Run4Missions 5k.  In addition, I got my personal best time in a 5K, so I’m pretty happy about that.  When I think back on the race, I figure that I probably could have shaved some more time, especially during the second mile.  But, I’ll settle for an official 23:51 for this year.  Not to mention, it gives me some cushion for improving next year.  (Race Results - if you want to make sure I’m not lying.)

I ran the first two miles tracking behind a gentleman that I work with.  I knew that he was much better at holding pace than what I would run on my own, so I used his wisdom to help set my pace.  Then, at the 2-mile mark, I met Kelley going in the opposite direction.  She was walking it with a friend and pushing pushing the girls in our jogging stroller.  So she turned the stroller around and gave it a push as I came by.  I grabbed hold and took them with me for the last mile.  I don’t think that it affected my time much.  Actually, it probably helped because as I started to push them, I heard them giggling and yelling “WeeeeeeEEEEEEeeee!”  Then they started yelling for me to go faster.

My ever-so-loving mother pointed out that next year I’ll have to race in a different age category.  In July, I’m hitting the status of  “old man”.  I looked at that age group, and I would have fallen all the way back to 6th.  I think maybe I should just retire while I’m on top.  Well, almost on top.