Fun Run

Today was Adobe's Springtime 5k Fun Run. We run 6 laps around the Children's Discovery Museum (http://www.cdm.org/) in Downtown San Jose. at previous fun runs I've been the lead runner and really haven't had any challengers, so even though I've set pretty good times, I haven't been really pushed. Today was a little different.

We met at the Fitness Center at noon and walked over to Discovery Meadow as a small group. Once we'd arrived and stretched a little we described the course to everyone who hadn't done this before, and then we were off.

Starting out there was a group of 4 of us in the lead. I set the pace and made it a brisk one, but one that I was relaxed with. Well, the other 3 guys were jostling behind me and I kept feeling like I was being pushed, so the overall pace increased.

We completed the first two loops with a lightning 6min 20sec pace, and we didn't slow down. After the 3rd loop we'd lost one guy and a second stopped to stretch. That just left Dave & I to complete the 5k neck and neck. He seemed to be much more capable than I felt, so I just tried to hang on for the last 3 loops around the museum. We kept getting faster.

We completed the 6 loops for our 5k run and we were still neck and neck. I tried to pull away at the last feww hundred feet, but Dave just stuck with me. We cross the finish line in a photo finish, but wihtout the camera evidence to show who was first. ;-) We called it a tie. Final 5k time -- 18min 35sec. That's the fastest I've ever run this distance. Probably about 2 minutes faster than anything I've done before. Wow! I probably wouldn't have pulled that off without Dave to pull me along.

One or two of the other guys set personal best times today, too. The weather was great and we had a great time.

My next race is the PCTR Mt. Diablo Marathon on Sunday. This won't be a personal best for me because of the close to 8000 ft of climbing. However, I'm going to run it with my friend Addy, so we're looking forward to great weather and great company.