11/26 - Sheltering Arms Turkey Trot 10k - 33:54 (watch time), 8th Place OA

33:54
5:27 avg pace
Splits
Mile 1 - 5:15
Mile 2 - 10:40 (5:24)
Mile 3 - 16:05 (5:26)
Mile 4 - 21:37 (5:32)
Mile 5 - 27:04 (5:27)
Mile 6 - 32:45 (5:41)
Finish - 33:54 (1:09)

First off, this was a huge PR for me over the 35:02 @ Bayou City back in '08. For that I'm very excited.

I got to the start line looking around at who was there, and honestly didn't recognize too many folks there. Bill was running the 5k, so I knew not to worry too much about what he was running early. My goal was to get as close to 33:00 as I could.

We took off at the gun and right away, the usual band of characters blasted out like they were running the 100m...so I stayed to the left side of the road and just focused on a relaxed early stride. In the first mile, that sorted itself out. Just past Westheimer down Post Oak we hit mile 1 @ 5:15. This was considerably faster, by about 5-10 seconds, than I had wanted, but it didn't feel too bad. I know that probably had more to do with the first quarter of the run, which is typically pretty fast. So, I just stuck to the effort I was giving at this point in the race. One guy was running away pretty fast, and there was just a couple of people between me and him. However, as I passed the 3rd place guy, I heard a group coming up behind me.

There were several guys in this group. We caught 2nd place, then he joined us. Turns out this would end up representing 2nd through 7th place. As we headed through 2 miles, I knew that this was going to take some good effort to maintain pace. Mile 3 was right on pace with mile 2, but this group had put about a 5-10 second gap on me. I tried to keep relatively close in mile 4, but had slowed myself to 5:30.

With 2-miles to go, I was looking to pick it back up and make a strong charge to the finish. I felt relaxed, but was definitely feeling the weight coming in my legs. They were starting to feel heavy, but I was still able to move well. I felt good about the fact that I got back into the mid-5:20s for mile 5, and really expected to keep this for mile 6. Looking back, I realize this was an up and down mile. I seemed to charge forward, then stiffened up, then charged a little again, the tightened again. Was not the best formula. I feel some disappointment in how this mile turned out, being my slowest mile, and actually slower than mile 13 in the Half from a few weeks back. That's definitely disappointing... we're talking a full 15 second fall off from mile 5 to mile 6.

Nonetheless, i was working hard throughout this mile. I hit the 6-mile mark and just charged with what i had left to the finish, knowing I had a huge PR in my pocket. I would have liked to have placed better in the race, but that is all coming in due time.

Bill won his race, on what seems to be a short 5k course. I was blown away hearing he'd run 15:00 or sub-15, but turns out it might have been as much as .11-.15 miles short. That sucks, cause he might have been on his way to a huge PR himself.

Off to chow down on some Turkey. Happy Thanksgiving all!