During the warm up before the race I noted that I wanted to go the bathroom but there was no bathrooms around, so I only hoped that the stomach did not bother me during the race. We waited for the horn to sound, and We were off. I went out at a good pace a bit faster than normal, but already there was a group of people, including the elites and my brother that went out pretty hard, after 200-300m i knew that I needed to slow down a bit because i am very strong, but my turnover was not that fast, then i settled into a fast pace, passing some people that went out pretty hard, at 500m I passed a couple of young guys (8-10 years old) that were breathing pretty hard I passed them no problem, then I passed a couple of more guys till I was running alone, with another guy about 5 meters ahead of me in the Km marker, I then said to my self, ok! the first Kilometer was to establish a good pace and after the 1 km the racing starts.
There were a lot of guys around me but I noted one old guy that I know, He race decent so i Sped up and started running with him around the1.5k mark, We ran together for around 500m then just before the 2k mark I decided to surge a bit and build a bit of a gap, then after the 2k mark a younger guy started running at my right, and i said, "oh nice", I knew the guy, i beat him the 10k that i ran on October( it was my first of the race), We ran together and started to sped up, I was breathing somewhat hard but I was not tired, in fact i felt pretty good but the legs were not turning over the way i was feeling (cardiovascular), I let the guy to take the lead so that I could recovery for a while then we hit the turnaround, He almost stopped to a walk so I had to open more than necessary and We started running together once again, I skipped the water station ( the only water station that was in the race), that was my plan before the race anyway, it is distracting and specially for a 5k, The guy I was running with, took water and I surged to take advantage of the situation, I could not gap him, but then the old guy that I was running at the mile mark, passed us at a good pace, I thought " oh great this guy again", it was time to move on and I followed the old guy but he had a gap built on me already, but We just dropped the young guy, every time that I closed the gap between me and the old guy He looked back and sped up again, I was not tired but my legs were shut, with a mile to go the old guy had around 3-5 seconds ahead of me , then a woman joined me and I thought, ok! maybe this woman will help me to close the gap and to finally pass the old guy, with around 1.3k to go I shouted "Now or never", I pushed to catch the guy and was running ahead of the woman for about 2 steps, and did not close the gap, the guy was running strong and my turnover was not helping, then the woman and I started to run together again, I was pushing hard to catch the old guy but I was not gaining anything and I did, He sped up very easily, with around 800m to go, more trouble a group of about 5 people were coming fast, 2 of them passed us like I was walking, I tried to go with them to catch finally the damn old guy, but The old guy sped up as well, shoot This guy is running really strong", We dropped the woman that I was running with in the last km, Then a guy that was 40 or so that I know as well because train at the park that I used to train, passed me and before the race I did not want him to beat me, He was coming very fast and I tried to go with him, at that point I wanted to beat all the people that I was running with at that point and mainly the old guy, that I was trying to pass the whole race, Finally the guy that trained in the same park as me built a gap on me and passed the old guy, then a guy at my age (22) passed me , and I did the same thing tried to use the guy to sped up and passed the people that were ahead of me, ok We were with 300m to go, I had nothing in the legs, and maintained my pace, I saw the clock at that point at "xx:50", I said to myself that must be a 20 because the people that I was running with and the people that was running way ahead that I could see in the distance run 20-21 mins, then i accelerated a bit and I said" If I sprint I can pass the old guy", I started running faster and faster gaining on him very fast, but then He glanced back again and sped up , the challenge is over, I could leave some guys behind, but the old guy beat me by 1 second. I crossed the line in 21:35 gun time.
I was happy with the race, my goal before the race was to finish sub 22 mins( of course I have run 20:32(with 30 pounds less), but I wanted to beat that old guy,after we finished I shaked hands with him and congratulated him for the good race, They gave a nice medal.
In the results my chip time was 21:33 and the old guy was 21:34, at the end He beat me by 1 second. They tracked splits at the halfway point, I crossed in 10:28. I have done unstructured speedwork for about a 5 weeks and have trained without a watch for that time as well. I think it has worked since in this race I was focused on my feels and responded to the competition. Also a year ago I ran the same time (21:36) and was running more miles and training harder.
I finished in 69th place of 238 runners. My twin brother ran 20:14, so I am happy with the race but of course i want to finish ahead in the results. In the last race i ran 10k I ran 48:16 so this 5k 2 months later said a better indication of my progress and my fitness, a lot of work needs to be done.
I raced without a watch and it is the best, I think that training without a watch has helped as well since i dont get caught in the numbers and on race day I can race to how i feel and dont have an arbitrary number to follow.
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