On Oct 25, I ran a 5k race in my old hometown of Summit NJ. I had run this race last year in 21:54 (then a PR) and
I came in 4th place in my Age Group. And I was only 5 seconds away from 2nd place! I had since improved my PR
to 21:16, which would easily have gotten me an Age Group award last year. My goal coming into this race was a new PR
of 21:00. So for the first time in my life, I was going into a race actually expecting to win an award. Of course,
I knew that it would depend on who shows up. In most races, I'm nowhere close to an award. But if this year would
be like last year, then I thought I could do well in this crowd.
In order to hit my goal of 21 minutes, I needed to keep about a 6:45 pace. A few years ago, I never would've dreamed
that I'd be able to hold a pace like that for any amount of time. So the fact that I wanted to do this over a 5k race
means that I've come a long way.
Anyway, I was feeling good that day. First mile was 6:55 and the second mile was 6:39. After about the Mile 2 point, I
was pretty much by myself. The people ahead of me were way up there and the people behind me were way back. Maybe I got a
little lazy. Mile 3 was 6:47, which wasn't bad. But I think I could've pushed it a little more.
Well, this is
where the frustrating part comes in. Again, I thought I was running all by myself. But with about 100 yards to go, I hear
a guy coiming up behind me. And he was RIGHT behind me. I had no idea he was there. Well, just for fun, I decided I didn't
want him to pass me, so I turned on the juice a little. But it was no use, he was coming up too fast, and he passed me with
maybe 50 yards to go. At that point, I momentarily took my foot off the accelerator, so to speak, and I just figured he was
gonna beat me.
But then with maybe 30 yards to go, I said to myself "Dang it, I want to catch this guy". So I really aired it out, and
I caught back up to him with about 10 yards to go. Now, he hears me coming up behind him, so he turns on the juice, and ends
up nipping me at the finish line. Seriously, he beat me by maybe 6 inches.
No big deal, this kind of thing happens all the time, right? He and I actually had a laugh about it right afterwards, and
thanked each other for helping us shave a couple seconds off our times in that little bout of competitiveness.
But as it turns out... he beat me for first place in the M35-39 age group! We both clocked in with 20:58, but he got first place. Ack!
I guess I can't complain too much. I was hoping for an AG award, and I came in second place. Pie in the sky goal was 21:00
and I beat it by 2 seconds. But darn it, I know I could've shaved at least one more measely second off my time somewhere in
that third mile if I knew he was that close behind me. Dammit!
Oh well. If nothing else, it gives me confidence that I can occasionally compete for an award, as long as the field
shapes up the right way.
And now, the New York City Marathon is just three days away...
