Masser 5-Miler

Another Sunday in Rehoboth = another race.

Yesterday was the annual Masser 5-Miler, one of the more popular races in the Seashore Striders series because in order to complete the series, you have to run one of the two 5-mile races (in addition to running a number of their 5k's). Since the other 5-miler is always the last weekend in July - one of the hottest of the year - a lot of people do the Masser.

I felt ok before the race, although it seemed like the air was a little heavy. When everyone lined up to start I placed myself in the middle of the pack which was a mistake. When the gun went off I spent the first 1/8 of a mile or so trying to get around runners in front of me. I finally got free and settled into a pace, which was - as usual - too fast. My first mile was 6:35. I would have loved to keep that pace for the entire race, but my legs just wouldn't go. I kept it steady and finished in 34 minutes, 30 seconds - good enough for 33rd place overall (our of 224 runners) and 10th in my age group. And for the second week in a row, I achieved a personal best - beating my 5-miler time from last year by nearly 3 minutes.

Now the training push continues for Eagleman on June 14. No races between now and then, so all of my energy will be focused on that.