Another race

I ran a cross country race on Saturday. The race was 5k, and I'd never run it before. I wanted to get there early enough that I could jog the course before the race, so that I'd know the course a little bit better when it came time to race. Unfortunately, I was only there about 30 minutes early, so I could only get in a look at the first mile.

There is a good-sized hill on the course, which you run up twice, once in the first mile and once in the third.

I went out too fast. I was training through this race, using it as a workout, and I wanted to run the first mile in about 6:40, which is entirely possible. I went through the first mile in 6:18 -- too fast. I had pressed the wrong button on my watch, so it didn't start. So, I do not have a 2 mile or 3 mile split. I slowed down after the first mile, both because I went out too fast and because the second and third miles were entirely unfamiliar to me. Instead of concentrating on my pace, I had to pay attention to the course as well. I finished in around 22 minutes.

Next year, I will have a better race there.

An exciting thing that was announced there has to do with the 2012 Masters 5k Cross Country Championships. The host club will be having Joan Benoit Samuelson giving a talk and going for a run the day before the race and 1984 Olympian John Tuttle will join her at the talk. Tuttle has won the race in the past, so I imagine he will be competing in the race again this year.