6 Seconds: My 5k Race Report

Ambivalent best describes how I felt going into this race. The reasons to skip it were plentiful:
* High hamstring is angry, I risk marathon-ending injury if I can’t control my pace
* I have a 20-miler the next day, should I compound matters with a 5k the day before?
* My races thus far have proven I’m not as fast as I was last year.

But this is my hometown race and it’s the scene of my 5k PR last year. Plus I’m running this one for charity: Salute, Inc., which honors war veterans. So I rolled out of the rack and arrived resplendent with bedsheet creases still on my face, resolved to just have fun with it. No pace strategy, no looking at my watch even. Just a fun run.
We are off, a gaggle of guys surge out in front. I see a couple of chicks, whatever. We turn the corner and I am running alone. Rolling hills. No peeking at the watch.
A guy is calling out the splits at the 1 mile mark, he has a heavy accent. I have no idea what he even said. Whatever don’t care.
More rollers. The leaders are doubling back so I search for the lead woman. I see her, well ahead of me–wow and she doesn’t look that young either. Amazing pace–good for her! At 1.5 I turn around and head back. The guy at the turnaround goes “Running strong!”
Now I see all the oncoming runners. Dozens of the women start yelling “You’re the first woman!” “Hang on honey you’re leading!” No I’m not, maybe they missed the lead chick. I couldn’t believe the support from so many woman. If any of you read this you were awesome! I am pretty dead now, obviously I’d done my usual and gone out way too fast but it’s a measley 5k so I vow to try to just gut it out. In the last mile, up comes another woman. So I’m sitting 3rd woman overall, unless I can catch her. But I really don’t want to endanger my marathon hopes by antagonizing my hamstring. So I let her be. 3rd overall is waaaay more than I ever hoped for. Truly I didn’t think I was capable of even an age group award today.
I felt strong in the home stretch and gingerly came in, thrilled that my hamstring felt so good.
Finish time: 23:17 1st in AG. 2nd overall women. Huh? Turns out the “woman” I saw wasn’t a woman. So I was indeed in the lead until I literally gave it away. Sigh. But she was 20 years my junior so no regrets. Overall I’m thrilled that I was just 6 seconds off of last year’s PR pace.