Candy Cane City 5K

I was anticipating this race for quite some time, as it was the first really flat 5K that I had a chance to participate in. My goal was to get under 16:30, with a pipe-dream of sub 16:15. I figured that if I could pull off a 16:33 at the Autism Speaks 5K with all of its rolling hills, I can certainly do better with all the improvements I've made since.

Got to the race, found out that it was going to be pretty competitive, which is good for knocking down one's time. First really cold race that I have run in in a while, around 35 degrees at the start, but I wasn't feeling like my breathing was compromised in any way.

Got off to a rather slow first mile at the front with #1 and #2, first mile was probably around 5:18. Mile 2 felt possibly a little slower even, maybe 5:20. By mile 2, I wasn't feeling really tired... not a good thing more than halfway through a fast race. I felt like I could have kept that pace for 2 more miles. But I was right behind the leader the whole time. We finally picked it up for the last mile and I came through with a 16:25.

I met my goal for the day, but to tell you the truth, I'm not satisfied. I know I'm faster than that and I had no courage to lead the race and set the pace. I recovered quickly and felt I had more to give. All in all, a rather disappointing feeling, despite achieving my 2009 goal of sub 16:30 in 5K. I really need to keep working on my mental game...