Run Tom, Run

I woke up Sat morning (somewhere around 4am) to the sound of crashing thunder and lightening filling the room. I didn't view this as a good sign for the race on Sat morning. This weeks 5K was The Best Dam Run In Texas and is held on the Waco Dam. Based on the floods that we were getting it was questionable as to wether or not the dam would even be there in the morning. I got up about 6:30 and it was still storming outside, but I was optimistic that it would let up by race-time at 8:00. We left for the run at about 7:30 and it was still pouring. Luckily the lightening had stopped, so the odds were good that we would run either way. I was just hoping that the rain would stop though. By 8:00 the rain was still going strong and the wind was blowing. Not exactly the greatest running weather in the world, but we lined up for the start nonetheless. What happened next was a bit of a new experience for me. The are 3 guys that I see at almost every race that run quite a bit faster then I do - and keep me from placing in my age group (this is now my only reason to look forward to hitting 30 so I don't have to compete with a bunch of 20 year old guys). So, for some reason these guys didn't line up at the front this time. The horn sounds and I take off. All of the sudden I headed down the trail and there is nobody in front of me. I look to my left.....nobody there. I look to my right....... nobody there. Huh - this is new. I look at my watch.... just hit 1 min (may not seem like long, but for me to still be in the lead it seemed like an eternity). Another minute goes by and still no one passes me. HOLY CRAP!! I'm leading this race!! That's right kids - the next Pre was setting the pace at The Best Dam Run In Texas! My Olympic dreams quickly faded somewhere between 2 and 2 1/2 mins when I started to hear footsteps behind me. I glance to my left and see a pack of four guys pulling up on my left. I decide to stay with them for a bit, but fortunately logic set in and I dropped back. They are running between 20-30 secs per mile faster then I am, so I would have bonked at about the turnaround if I had tried to keep pace. I held strong to my pace and the line started to spread between 1st-5th. I take the liberty of one glance around my shoulder and don't see anyone within striking distance of me. I may not win this one, but I'm not giving up 5th place! I hit the turnaround still in 5th and holding strong. The front 4 are starting to pull out of view at this point and I'm on my own to hold my pace. I go into my kick with about 200 yards to go and cross the finish line at 19:33!!! My whole goal this race was to improve on my time from last week and I smoked it! Now - it could be questioned that this race may have been slightly off (only 3.0 vs 3.1 miles), but even if it was I would have still shaved 23 seconds off my previous PR! So, now I'm even more motivated to continue stepping up the training. The way I figure it is that I need about another 20 seconds per mile off my time and I can actually be somewhat competitive in some of the local races. We'lll see. Cheers ~ Tom