Carver 5 Miler

On Saturday I rolled down to Carver, MA for the 5 miler. My time, 27:30-something, doesn't exactly illustrate my best 5 mile race, so I  was bummed about my race but still had a good time. I  w as out good and fast, through 2 miles in 10:14. Definitely quick but I  w as feeling surprisingly good and relaxed. Then a sudden distruption in my race took hold. I debated for about half a mile but eventually  pulled off course around 2.5 miles for a not-so-private pit stop next to a field. Pit stop took longer than intended and I found myself far back of just about everybody I was hoping to race with. You can probably get away with a short stop in marathon or even a half, but 5 milers are just too short to make up a 60-80 second deficit. I rolled in the last couple miles at a respectable effort, but I  w as mentally out of the race once I took that short break. Maybe I could have run a bit harder in the 4th mile, but I was still pretty whiped at the finish. Oh well, and moving on! 

Had fun post-race hanging out with and meeting a bunch of whirlaway and Somerville Road Runners. It was also sweet to see a bunch of whirlaway faces who haven't been active due to injury most of the season. I think we should definitely have our strongest team at the 5k in late September and I think the marathon could be a really good race for us on October 28th. 

Posting here has been sparse, but in the past few weeks I've had some good workouts on the track as well as strong tempo and cruise interval work. And I'm optimistic and excited for my marathon build up starting at my current fitness level. The goal race is Cape Cod  where I ran 'okay' in 2011 up until the 21 mile mark and ended up bonking HARD. I know the areas I need to focus on for training to have a good race all the way to the end in 2012. Goal time will probably be adjusted as I get into the bulk of marathon training, but hoping for something around 2:35. I'll probably be at races like the Nahant 30k and I'll definitely be racing the 5k in Lowell in 8 weeks. Looking forward to the process!