My first 5k run in what seemed like a long time. One of my goals this year, was to get under 20:00 minutes. I'd succeeded in this twice this year and during a the DHL stafet (5k relay) I ran 20:10 without actually trying really hard and under very poor conditions.
What could possibly go wrong right? Well, the last few days leading up to the race I'd been dealing with a nasty cold and wasn't feeling to well. During my warm-up routine, I felt heavy and sluggish, but the temperature was perfect (I tend to fare well under slightly cold conditions).
As a walked up to the startline I told my body to get it's sh!t together and get those legs churning! Afterall, 5k should be over in no time.
As the gun went off I ran off, at first at a too crazy pace (3:30 is (not yet) a sustainable pace for me). I eased down to the pace I was going for 3:54 and tried to use the same tactic that served me well during CPH half: Instead of looking at my watch every couple of seconds I tried to make a mental note of how my desired pace feels like, and stay in that mode. Every time I passed a km marker I manually took a split time to see if I was still on track, and adjusted if I went too fast or too slow.
During to run there was a teenage boy that seemed equally matched, he overtook me a few times and got overtaken by me in the course of the race. I tried not to let that affect my pace and just ignored him until the final few hundred meters. Unfortunately, the boy had more left in the tank than I expected and his end sprint made it impossible to overtake him (well done kid... well done).
When I caught my breath and took a look at my watch I could see that I accomplished my goal: 19:22 (I had planned 19:30). Apart from that I had an overall 10th place and a 2nd place in my age-group. That is the best result I have every had!
