My mind won’t let go of what it felt like to be racing in yesterday’s Colder Bolder. It’s been so long since I’ve put myself out there, struggling to keep up while in oxygen debt. This runner behind me was from the wave that started 5 minutes ahead of mine. He wasn’t someone I was caught up in a race with. There were two women I found myself passing back and forth with.
One of them was 55 year old Michele Delman, pictured here in the orange tank top behind me. I was 2 seconds ahead of her at the one mile point, even at two miles as she ran 2 seconds faster than me, and we ran even splits for the final mile but I somehow finished 2 seconds ahead of her – apparently from my kick over the last 100 meters. We probably passed each other 4 or 5 times throughout the race.
Racing was fun and I might train for it more the next time I run a 5K. My legs are as sore this morning as they are after a marathon. No doubt, from wearing zero-drop racing flats that I wasn’t prepared for. The fastest runner my age finished at a 6:30 per mile pace. I could only dream of running that fast. But I am dreaming of running that fast. Maybe next year.
A Runner's Story 
When we first moved back to Austin in 2000, nobody put on 10k’s anymore. Before, literally all the races were 10k’s, with perhaps a couple of marathons a year, but now 5k’s predominated. I loved training for 5k’s. It was so much more technical, training to run as close to anaerobic as possible. I’d do track workouts a couple of times a week.
LikeLike
I’m intrigued that I can run hard for the whole distance. I might train for some next year. I’m a bit psyched out that a runner my age in Boulder can run a 6:30 pace. But I could do that 10 years ago. I need to relive some glory.
LikeLike