"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

Pomphrey 5K May 2019

 Having run myself dead to clock 19.19 last time round, and with my first 400k bike ride 3 days after, I approached this race thinking "you can't run every race eyeballs-out, can you?". In other words I was planning to hold back, at least for the first KM or two. But then again, if I found myself in better shape than last time, going at a decent pace, I could always go for it, right? Feeling in better shape was not that likely - last time round I'd had tired legs from a hard bike ride 12 hours before the race, but this time I was still a bit post-viral after a summer cold and had hardly done any running since Slieve Foy in Ireland 2 weeks  before.

Warming up I felt OK and although I felt a bit left for dead at the start by the faster runners, it did seem like I was keeping up a reasonable pace without going into the red. The path was gorgeous as ever - all the hedgerows fully in leaf and a cool but gentle breeze keeping me at exactly the right temperature for racing. The sky was threatening showers but they never came - it was another perfect evening for running on a perfect course. There are some ups and downs, but nothing you could use as an excuse for not running a season's best.

I knew I'd come through 2k in 7.35 last time and it was 7.38 this time - I felt a bit left in the tank and so I spent the rest of the race aiming at the person up ahead and trying to catch them up - I passed one or two but one or two surged past me, especially towards the finish as I had nothing left to accelarate in the final K. In the end I stopped my watch a few strides after the finish in 6.21 so I reckon I crossed the line in 6.19 or 6.20 - pretty much identical to last time.

A sweet race - nice atmosphere and a fast course, no traffic, no complications, just the simplest running experience. Results aren't out as I write this but I know my time within a second or two.


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