Vale Park 5K

This is probably one of my favorite 5K races to do.
Reason being, it is around the corner from where I live and the course goes through the Union College campus and finishes in a very nice park.
The weather for this Thursday night race was good. The sky was partly cloudy and the temp. was low 70's. There was a tad on the humid side but it is a short race so it didn't factor in too much.
The thing that did factor in was the pain in my shin. I have been having shin splint pain above my ankle on the inside of my left leg. It hurt this morning as I walked on it. That is the first time it hurt when not running. It has since gotten less painful. Anyway, I chose to where my trainers instead of my racing shoes; going for comfort over speed.
When the gun for the start sounded (Not an actual gun, gun. This could be confused with the everyday sounds of Schenectady) I went out behind 3 other people to feel out the pace. I did not recognize any of the racers in front of me so I had no idea about their pace or abilities. As I reached the first turn, about 400 meters into the race, a middle school aged kid raced by me and in front of the leaders. I love watching these youngsters think it is easy at the start. THe pace always catches up to them after a half mile and they drop back. This, of course, was the case this time as well.
I ran through the Union College campus and settled into 3rd position overall. I could see 1 and 2 just ahead of me. This was fine with me. What wasn't fine was the mile 1 split: 5:35. Oh boy, 10 seconds faster than I wanted... not a good sign for me.
I kept pushing, however, and came through mile 2 in 5:53. I didn't choose to slow down to this pace. My body did it automatically. I was pretty spent at this point. One thing I do enjoy is beating myself up and seeing how far I can push my body. I was going to test it during mile 3.
I could hear faint footsteps behind me as I made the turn into the park for the finish. I knew there were hills coming up and I wanted to hang onto my 3rd place. 1 and 2 were out of the question as I would have to make up about 30 seconds within the last mile. Not going to happen. So my new goal was to push and hold.
I ended up finding out a lot about myself in that last mile. My body wanted to give up and coast... maybe let the 4th place runner come up on me and then try to outkick him at the end. My mind stuck with the new goal and wouldn't let my body settle. I drove myself up the hills and opened up my stride on the downs. I'm glad, because that was the difference. I broke the guy behind me, his footsteps gradually disappearing, and I finished a very strong third mile and race in third position overall.
I improved on my best finish at this race by one spot and by 11 seconds. I am proud of myself today and the new ceramic mug/trophy will be a constant reminder of who I am and what I can do.
Finish Time- 18:24
Avg mile pace- 5:55
Finished- 3rd overall
Results - http://www.hmrrc.com/View/PDFs/Results/08vale.htm

Next race- Lake Placid Half Marathon
Date- Next Sunday Father's Day (June 15th)
Goal Time- Sub 1:30:00 Hopefully top 3 in age-group.

Misc- This year's goal is coming up. The Tupper Lake Tinman. June 29th!!!!
A nice 1st anniversary gift to myself (June 30th)
Until Next time!