st pats 5k

Went downtown for the traditional running of the St Pats 5k followed by some car bombs and beers on the patio at Old Cs. After some spirited runs the last couple weeks, I was feeling I could crank out a PR and maybe dip under 27 minutes. I got to the park about 15 minutes before race start and by the time I got to the start area, there wasn't much time for a warm-up so I started the race cold. Nothing new. I spent most of the first mile weaving in and out of traffic and trying to negotiate some course changes that I wasn't expecting. The garmin clicked off the first mile in 8:3x something and I didn't pass the actual marker for a few hundred more yards. That was the last marker I saw so I wasn't terribly concerned about it. Mile 2 is mostly uphill and it proved to be a struggle as it has in years past as that one went by in 9:03. The final mile has two 180 degree turns as the course makes a "T" on Cache La Poudre St before heading back down to Acacia park. That mile went down in 9:11 and I stopped my watch at 27:24. The course finished about 300 yards earlier than previous years because they added a short spur in the first mile to make up the distance. I was surprised when the line snuck up on me but I don't think I had much of kick in me anyway.

Hurried down to Old C's to stake out a table and enjoyed a few beverage while watching the parade. I checked my official time this morning and I got 5 secs back with the chip timing, finishing in 27:19. Pretty pleased as that represents a 1:50 best over my previous PR.