It wasn’t as cold as I had feared. The sun was out. I spent some time jogging around the Oval, with some short intervals at race pace, and realized that I wasn’t feeling quite as energetic as yesterday, but still pretty good overall. Having been sick and laid up waiting for the injured nerve in my right foot to heel so I could run pain free, I didn’t have high hopes that I would run a sub-24 race.
I lined up in the second row of runners, which seemed to be about right because I didn’t pass many people, and few passed me during the first few hundred meters. Started out at what I thought was a fairly sustainable pace, and at mile one a race volunteer was calling out splits, What she called out matched what my Garmin recorded (6:51). That is a pretty fast pace for me, so I decided to edge back just a little during the second mile, but then we turned west and I was fighting a bit of a headwind. I wanted to protect my pace, so I wasn’t able to drop my effort too much, and I began to hit a wall at about 1.5 miles, and the next mile was a struggle after that.
The split called out at mile 2 was 14:04, so I had realized I had averaged 7:02 miles for the first two, but I was feeling pretty spent at that moment and started to second guess my decision to take up running. It didn’t help that a guy kept coming up on my heels whose loud and labored breathing only seemed to bolster my sense of fatigue. Fortunately, he dropped away after awhile, and at 2.54 miles on the Garmin, I smelled the finish line and got a second wind. I knew I would be able to maintain to the end, so I buckled down for the final push.
As I approached the oval again, I realized that there would still be another lap around, and I was determined at least to maintain my pace to the finish. About fifty meters out, though, I realized the guy in front of me might be in my division. If he finished third in the division and I hadn’t tried to make it a contest, I knew I would regret it. I resolved to beat him to the finish, and passed him for good with about 10 meters to go, finishing strong.
It took me a while to remember to stop my watch, but when I did I noticed that I was at 22:18, which would mean that I had crossed the line at something close to 22 flat. A couple minutes later, they put up the first times, and I saw that I had finished 27th overall (out of something like 435 runners – more than twice what I expected and record participation for the event). I glanced over at the division place, and it was delighted to see that it said 2/22 – I placed and set a new PR by 2 min 31 sec!
The announced also that this was the first race in Colorado that used the electronic timing system where the “chip” just a thin mylar/foil strip stuck to the back of your number – like the antitheft devices used for some products in stores. It was nice not to have to deal deciding how best to attach a separate chip, and the offered recycling opportunities at the finish line.
I had planned to come home right after getting my result, but since I placed, I had to call my wife and let her know I would be late. She was ok with it, under the circumstances. 
Note: The Cinco Cinco 5K, is in memory Gil Gutierrez, an education professional who seems to have touched a lot of people’s lives, but whom was killed by a drunk driver some 18 years ago. The race is a fundraiser for scholarships at Colorado State University, and organizers reported that $25,000 had been raised through the race, which has been run for 17 years (I hope I got all that right).
