3.1 mi. Time to go fast in warm weather. Last year I received a comp entry but was not put in the proper age group. I was listed as “uncategorized” so I was not eligible for a prize.
I did a warmup run of about 2 miles with Jen and Maureen. I knew it was going to be breezy coming back north on Flagler Drive, the warmup run confirmed that. So I did not wear a visor but I did wear sunglasses. That arrangement worked out well. I did a few 300m warmup strides lowering my pace on each one. The race was delayed about ten minutes, so I spent time staying limber and loose.
The start was good, I was in the second row of people. At 1/2 mile I wasn’t in the top 20 runners, so many people jammed out into the lead. South Olive Ave wasn’t as shady as I remembered until you get to the roads that lead to Flagler drive. It did feel 10 degrees cooler in the shade of the trees. At one mile I was at 6:13, felt good, and kept working. I passed a few people on the straightaway and on Avila Street. When we turned onto Flagler the wind caught us and people were very affected by that. I passed a few more and now had only a few within sight to possibly catch. The lululemon cheer squad was in a good place, they also had the “Dave Is Cool” sign out that I jokingly made for them a few years ago. That was a good sight! At mile 2 I was at 12:30 so an average of 6:15 pace. Now I passed the only girl I saw ahead of me, while Rich Wandoff passed me and still had enough lungs and energy to say, “Hi Dave.” There was one younger kid left for me to pass before the Okeechobee underpass, once I did that I couldn’t realistically see anyone close enough to catch. Once under the bridge I was inside Sunfest. I ran in the road and had to go around some street chalk art display right before the third mile, which was a sign I never saw. I remember thinking that if I let off just a small bit, I may be better off and not have my pace suffer. I did try that, maybe that’s why I got 19:48 instead of a 19:30 something.
I finished 1st in my age group which means I get a Duffy’s gift card in the mail. 7th overall which was also a good result. trevor from OTF got 2nd with a 17:56, what a great run that was for 2nd place overall.
drun4fun 