It's almost been an entire year since I started running...again. It started out as a pact with Nathan and Joe to run a couple half marathons. In the midst of running I came across a group of runners who I stared running with. We decided to work on our 5k times after the long-distance season was over. Since April we have been at the track on Thursday nights working on our speed. At this point in time, my best 5k time was hovering around 21 minutes. I made it my goal to run under 20 minutes by the Firecracker 5k. In the weeks leading up to the Firecracker we ran a few 5k's. I was unsuccessful each of those times in breaking the 20 minute barrier.
People from all over the midsouth come out to run this race. It was estimated to draw a few thousand people to this race. I was told that several high school and college runners would be running. This would obviously make it a faster race than many of the others. 
My game plan had to be different from my other races if I was going to finish under 20 minutes. My problem in the previous races revolved going out a little too fast and then dying at the end. I would have to resist the urge to take off with the leaders and hang back just a little. This would hopefully allow me to have something in the tank for the second and third miles.
Oddly enough, I find the 5k much harder to run than the longer races. Because of the short distance it is a very fast race. Your body does not have time to find a rhythm. It suffers from oxygen deprivation very early in the race making it very difficult to finish strong.
After many weeks and hard runs at the track, the gun finally goes off and we're moving. Just like I had gone over in my head over and over, I kept to a more reasonable pace at the beginning. At mile 1 I was several seconds slower than I am usually. Perfect. I had slowed a bit after mile 2 and I was just a little concerned. But I decided to reach down and pick it up a notch in the third and final mile. This is usually where my race falls apart. Not this time. I put down the gas and my body responded. My last mile was my fastest. As I made the last turn for the finish line, I just let it all hang out. I picked it up several more notches and ran across the line very strong. I made my goal. I ran a 19:32. I had beaten my goal by almost 30 seconds. I could not have been more satisfied. Come to find out, I finished 4th in my age group and 50th overall. I was very satisfied. Next year I might be trying to break 19 minutes. Who knows.
