Wait, what?

Thursday, November 24th-Thanksgiving Day

I left at 6:55 AM and drove to Downingtown West HS. Temperature was 38 degrees.  Parked in the high school parking lot at about 7:15 or so.  I was pre-registered for the race.  Jogged to the pre-reg take and then did about a mile in and around the HS campus.   I happened upon several of the "Tuesday morning guys."  I even saw Rachel McGinninis and Katie.  Hugs all around. Stretched a bit outside the entrance to the HS.  I decided I'd wait to the last minute to use the restroom. With five minutes to go before the start, I shed a layer of clothing, deciding I'd run in shorts, Under Armor  long sleeve shirt, and racing shirt on top.  I wore gloves as well.   Got to the starting line, which was in front of the STEM Academy.  I made my way up near the front of the HUGE crowd, just in front of the 6 min/mile pace sign.   Gun went off at 8:01, and I got out pretty well.   

I had hemmed and hawed about this race--whether I'd run it hard, take it easy, or do it at all.  I decided I wasn't going to put too much pressure on myself.  About .75 into the race, I saw Rachel out of the corner of my eye.  She had told me 15 minutes earlier how she wasn't in any kind of shape and that she was just doing the run just because.  So much for that!  She was on my ass big time!  I could see John Manion, Ed McConnell, and others about 70-80 meters ahead by the time we reached the mile mark.  I reached the mile mark in 5:45.   I was on my way.  I tried to stay relaxed and to maintain my rhythm.  I realized that I was on pace to run about 17:50.  I just told myself to breath.  Rachel came up beside me as we hit Manor Ave.  She and I went stride for stride the whole was down to the turn.  Then, she gapped me by 10 meters.  I had it under control, though.  I checked my watch just beyond the 2 mile mark and saw that I was 11:39 into the race and with about six minutes to go.  I tried to maintain but felt myself falling off the pace.  With about 1K to go I started pushing myself to pick off a few runners ahead of me.  I managed to get 3-4 of them.  I had no trouble with the slight hill heading back onto Manor Ave.  I began to cut into the lead Rachel had.  I then heard Kevin Kelly, I believe, say, "Come on.  You have two minutes to go."  I looked at my watch and saw 15:59.  I knew I had to move it.  With about 500 meters to go, I began digging in.  With about 300 meters left, I saw that my watch hit 17:00.  With 200 meters remaining, someone passed me.  I was now by myself.  I finished in a pedestrian 18:01.  After a 5:45 first mile, I'd wager a guess that I ran 5:50 for the second mile and 5:50 for the third mile.  All things considered, I ran a helluva even race. And I wasn't dead afterwards either.  I will guess I got 49th place/2375.  I left about 10 minutes after I had finished.  I had to head home to be picked up at 9:30 or so for a football game in Havertown.  I could have stayed in Downingtown a little longer to enjoy the festive atmosphere.  I'm looking forward to the game, which is a great tradition, but I'm sure I'll be so sore afterwards, though.