Blast From The Past: Run For Your Life

This 5k was the first race that Erin and I would both do.  I had been running a bit longer then her, but we felt we were fairly well matched against each other, so we decided to compete.  I felt good going into the race, which was on a Wednesday night after work. Lining up at the starting line I found myself towards the front of the pack, in fact I was lined up directly behind Dick Beardsley.  As the race started I felt really good and decided I'd see just how hard I could push myself.  I easily kept up with the leaders for the first quarter mile before looking down and seeing just how fast I was going.  I started to back off the pace a bit but I'd run about half a mile at a 6:00 minute per mile pace, I backed off a little further, but found myself walking before the end of the first mile.  Trying to catch my breath, I'd occasionally look back for Erin hoping I'd built enough of lead.  Near the halfway point she passed me and tried to egg me on, but I had melted down already.  The rest of the race was miserable as I'd try to run on occasion and feel like I just couldn't sustain it.  Erin beat me easily that day because she controlled her pace and ran with an effort she could sustain. I knew not to start races this fast, but it took a failure like this for that lesson to really sink in. I've definitely had events that have been more fun, but I learned a lot through the misery that day.