Sat., Mar. 31 - Race Day

Weekly Mileage: 30 (5 days)

Workout
2 mile warmup
5k race
1 mile cooldown

Breakdown
Got up this morning at 6:45 a.m. and drove over to Sharon, Pa. for the Penn State Shenango Hustle for Muscle 5k. Goals going in were pretty clear: push hard and get a gauge on where my fitness and pain thresholds are after about two months of serious running.

Results were way better than expected. It was super cold and pretty windy on the out part of the out and back course, and I went out way too fast. There was basically three of us for the first mile and we went through in 5:25. Way too fast for my goals and I could have run a lot faster overall if I had gone out 25 or 30 seconds slower.

I dropped back a bit after the first mile, not because I wasn't feeling great, but because I knew if I went through two miles there I would be crashing the third mile.

I got passed with about a half mile to go but reeled the guy in over the last 100 meters from about 30 yards back. I still have a ton of leg speed from my days as an 800-meter runner is what that showed me.

Long story short, I finished third overall and first in the men's 25-29 year old age group with a time of 18:28, which is about 5:57 per mile.

Going in, I thought best case scenario I was in 18:45 shape, so I am pretty pleased with this.

Shoes
Warmup in Supernova Ride
Race in Saucony Fastwitch 5 (first run in them, loved them)

Reflection
18:28 is a long, LONG way away from my PR in the 5k, but its also 2:30 faster than I ran Feb. 18 in a 5k and it's pretty damn impressive considering I was 206 pounds three months ago with no miles on my legs.

Today
I'm recovering a bit now and then I have to head to lacrosse to work the Stick it to Cancer game vs. Shippensburg. I'm predicting a big win for us in the standings and a super special and emotional day for Bri, the team, her family and friends and myself included. I can't wait for today.

Later, I'm going to indulge a bit and eat some pizza and drink some beers with my boys while watching the Final Four games. Today should be an amazing day.

Hope everyone else has a great one too!