So I decided to head out and do the Forty Fort “Old Fort” 5-miler today, and had such a good race, that I PR’d and didn’t even know it. I hadn’t checked my time from last year to know what to beat, because I really didn’t go out with intentions of ‘racing’ per se, just to have a nice run. Well. last years time (that I never wrote on the blog) was 35:55, this year? I believe its a 35:03, which is about 50 seconds faster, and I didn’t even try to race … the official results aren’t up, but I was 40th out of about 250+ runners. I missed 3rd place in my age group by about a minute .. and theres no way I would’ve made it any fast without hurting myself, and for a chump race like this, it ain’t worth it!

The only unfortunate part is the attitudes of these local runners … I really enjoy the marathon crowd so much more, because we’re all in it for each other and because we all have passion and are a unique breed, but these local 3-4-5 mile runners think they are the greatest and are so much better than others …. I’ve never been snuffed so many times when saying hi or striking up a conversation with people, I think i’ll stick to the marathons.

Back to the race … well, it wasn’t unbearably hot like it was last year, but it was still quite warm. I didn’t stop for water at all, knowing that 5 miles to me is a joke .. but I did have a great race, I have to say. I kicked it up again in the last quarter mile and blew a guy away from sprinting to the finish … it was cool. We were neck in neck the entire last mile, but I guess I had more in the tank … (remember sprinting at the end of the marathon?)

So I don’t expect to do anymore local races, at least for a bit (maybe 4th of July, who knows) .. its time to kick it into gear again for the fall marathons!