23:04 | 2nd OA Female | 2nd AG (20-29)

Weather conditions: 20-30 degrees. There was a wind advisory out, with 25-35 mile winds predicted, and gusts up to 45 IIRC. I don't know what the actual conditions were, but it was pretty windy. And since this race was run around a lake, it was pretty cold. My hands were numb before the race even started.

I wasn't feeling very confident before the start of the race. I was tired and headachy from the 90 minute drive to the race site, and my legs had been feeling tired coming off of a high mileage week (I took yesterday off after running 48 miles between Saturday and Friday). Plus, it was cold and there was a strong wind; while I've run in these conditions, I've never raced in them before.

I ran about a mile for my warmup, and that helped my legs loosen up. (It also felt really good after the car trip!) I got in my normal stretches, and then tried to find a good spot to line up, but I had no idea where to position myself. In addition to the 5K, there was also a 10K that was starting at the same time/spot. I was hoping to run sub-8 mpm so I placed myself a bit back from the start, towards the middle. That turned out to be a mistake, as the women in front of me told another runner that they were planning on running 10 mpm. By then it was too late for me to move forward. When the gun went off, I had to dodge a ton of people and it took ~10-11 seconds to get to the starting line. (My husband told me there were a few women that positioned themselves right on the starting line and the proceeded to start walking when the gun went off. I don't understand why walkers in a run/walk race line up near the front).

The first mile went pretty quickly, especially the first 100-200 feet where I was running around people. I have no concept of short distance pace anymore, so I wasn't sure how hard I was running until I saw the 1 mile marker. During the second mile, I concentrated on running a little faster, which was difficult because of the wind. The last mile, I tried to speed up even more. I managed to pass a few people, and only one person passed me. I did get a sidestitch in the last half mile, but kept pushing myself because I knew I was near the end. We came around a corner and when I saw the finish clock I pulled out my sprint. I was pretty excited and stunned to have the finish chute guy tell me I was the second woman. (My husband told me that there had been 5 women ahead of me, but they kept going for the 10k).

Mile 1.0 | 7:41
Mile 2.0 | 7:26 | 15:07
Mile 3.1 | 7:56 | 23:04

I'm pretty happy with my race, especially the negative splits. I ran 24:46 in November, so I'm pleased with the progress I've made since then. I'm also really excited that I was able to run that time coming off the high mileage week and in strong winds. If I actually taper and have good conditions, I think the low-22s are possible. I'm really excited about my 2004 racing now!