I ran a local 5k last week here in Mansfield. It was a bit of an experience as we had some interesting weather during the run.
We headed out on a long straightaway in town and it immediately started raining. It was light but that didn't last long. Some high school runners took off in the lead, but I was able to catch this group pretty quickly and led the race about a half mile in. We turned onto Park Avenue and another runner came up and passed me. He was running so effortlessly that it made it look like I was standing still. Time to run for second place! The rain picked up and I hit the first mile in about 6:32, right where I wanted to be. We had a really nice downhill during the second mile and I gained a good size lead over the number three runner. This is when the hail started. It was very small pieces but it was still quite unpleasant. We turned off of Park towards a side road for a quick circular route around a neighborhood and back to Park. The second mile came in about 6:50, so I was still holding steady. Remember that nice downhill during the first half? What goes down must come up. This was a tough stretch. I took a quick glance behind me and noticed the third runner was probably a minute behind me, so I didn't feel the need to push it too much. We turned towards the finish and I came in at 21:03, good enough for second overall.
This wasn't a bad showing but I was a bit disappointing. I was hoping to get around 20 minutes even but this course simply wasn't the right one. I'm taking a couple weeks off and doing some speedwork in preparation for the next one.
Next race: Drug Free 5k- Lexington, OH
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