Preservation Pottstown 5k, Sub 23!!

It started out kinda goofy... I drove out to Pottstown with plenty of time before the race. Then, I got into town and started driving around. The race didn't really put good information on the website about where it was located... So, I was left to a couple good guesses and the help of the locals. After about 15 minutes of driving around Pottstown (almost thinking I wasn't going to run), I finally found the location.

I went through my pre-race routine.... You know, pacing around nervously, trying to find a place to go to the bathroom and checking my Garmin a million times to be sure it was working. Then, we went to line up...

I started out strong. And, for the first time, I used the Garmin feature that gives you a running average of the mile as opposed to your pace at that moment. That helped me scale back as I was running too fast and pick up tempo when I was slowing down. The only thing I don't like about it was the constant micro-managing of the race. But, if it helps me accomplish my goal, I guess I can deal with it.

I got out a little faster (but not too fast) in the first mile than I wanted to. I ran the first mile in 7:13. I was actually thinking that pace was sustainable. I was shooting for 7:20s the whole way through... So, as long as I was running under that pace, I was happy.

Then, the second mile came in pretty darn close to goal pace. I was starting to struggle half way through the mile. Despite that, I tried to hold the pace and push through it. For the most part, it worked. I ran a 7:21 for that mile. But, I knew I was in for a fight in the last mile.

The last 1.1 was exactly that. I fought my way through and the pace fell off a bit. But, I still managed to run a 7:39 for the last mile and kick it in at the end. I finished the race in 22:53!! Sub 23, finally! So glad to have that monkey off my back.

The race organizers goofed up a bit by not writing race day registrants names on the pull off piece of the bib. So, as a result, the organization of results was really a mess. I went up and made sure that they had my name with my result and took off. It was going to take far too long to figure that mess out and I wanted to get back to the family. Knowing how bad their web presence was for the registration process, I'm guessing there isn't going to be a web results page. But, I'll keep my eyes peeled. I did manage to find out that I finished 56th. No clue how many total runners though.