Ran the Evergreen 10k today, which was quite a race. THe race took place at an elevation of 7,700 feet, but much of the couse was downhill. I tried to retain myself from exploding off of the starting line, which I partially did, but it seems that some instincts can not be fully removed. I had to put the pedal to the floor. I clocked the first two miles in 10:06, a blistering pace of a 5:03 per mile. My 5k split was exactly 16:00, which is a personal best so far in my running "career". At this point I was currently in fifth, but at mile four, this grueling pace caught up with me. I let one runner pass, but remained confident that no one else was going to overtake me. In the last mile, a runner of my similar age was gaining. With 800 meters left he made his move. Sensing that he would soon pass me, I turned forward, eyed the finish, and turned on the afterburners. I don't know quite how fast I ran the last 800 meters, but rest assured it was sub 4:45 pace. I had held him off, finishing with a personal record time of 33:40. Only later did he tell me that he, being my same age, was top ten in the state in the 10,000 meter his senior year of high school. Knowing this, I figured that I did well, especially since I have only been training (at a decently high level) for the last two months. I beat my personal best for the 10k by almost by 5:00 and my personal best for the 5k by 24 seconds, not bad for a single days work. I knew that my training was increasing my speed, but only now do I realize the extent to which it has helped me grow as a runner. At this rate, I would like to break 30:00 in the next six months. If I could do that, there is no way that the CU varsity squad could turn me down. | 