TITLE: An Unexpected Personal Best in the 5K
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: December 12, 2005  5:52 PM
DESC: 
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<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/running/snow-shuffle2005.gif"
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The end of my semester has been busier than usual,
which has made it difficult for me to set aside
time to read, write, or rest much.  So I was happy
to have the luxury of an hour on Saturday to run the
2005 Snow Shuffle 5K.  This is the 5th annual Snow
Shuffle, which brings the local racing season to a
close with a relatively relaxed run and plenty of
doughnuts and hot chocolate.

Back in November, I
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-11.html#e2005-11-08T18_54_29.htm">
   wrote</A>:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
Now I am getting excited about running the Snow Shuffle
5K on December 10.  It's tough to PR races in the cold
of December, and there is always the chance of snow or
ice or fierce wind.  So I won't plan for anything other
than running as fast as the conditions allow.  But the
thought of racing, however short, sounds good again.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

In the intervening few weeks, I had not felt all that
fast, either on the road or the track, so I had
decided to make this a fun run.  I even ran laps on
Wednesday, three days before the race, as a way to
reduce any temptation to expect anything out of the
race.

The super cold weather of last week passed, but in
its place we received several inches more snow, for a
total of 13" or more on the ground.  So race day saw
temperatures in the teens Fahrenheit and plenty of
slush and ice on the course.  My expectations were
lowered even further.

But I felt good.  My early pace was faster than my
usual fast runs, and I finished the first mile in
6:31 -- my second fastest 5K mile ever, after the
first mile of my
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-06.html#e2005-06-11T12_22_39.htm">
   June race</A>.
I slowed a bit in the second mile, to 6:42, but with
a little push I was able to maintain this pace...
and finally, with about a half mile to go, I caught
a guy who had been running just ahead of me for over
a mile.  He cheered me on and, though I didn't have
the legs to accelerate, I held on.

My official time was 20:46, with a course time of
20:44 -- a PR by over five seconds.  I was a happy
guy.

Maybe it helps
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-12.html#e2005-12-06T16_19_47.htm">
   train in the winter weather</A>
of Iowa after all.

Even more amazing to me than my 2nd place in the
40-49 age group is that I finished in the top ten
overall, out of 150+ finishers.  I'm not sure I
have ever finished as high as 9th in a race that
had more than nine people in it!

This race buoys my spirits a bit, both for running
and for the end of our academic term.  I have much
that I would like to write about the last few weeks,
and now I can see the finish line of the semester,
at which I will be able to indulge in a little
reading and writing.
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