Blue Points 5k

August 6th was the Blue Points 5k sponosred by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Carolina Panthers.  I was looking forward to this race as it was the official kick off to my vacation and I anticipated going under the 18 minute mark for the first time. I drove up to the race by myself and was getting in my pre-race warm up in some extremly muggy weather. I'll spare you the details but just say there was an emergency detour during the warm up which extended it a bit longer than I had planned.  As a result, my last half mile of warm up had me running around a sub-7 minute pace to get to the start line prior to the race.  I managed to get there with one minute to spare. 
As the race started, we took a quick turn and headed up a small hill.   At this point, there were lots of people running well under 6 minute miles which was pretty surprising.  But as we crested the hill the crowd began to thin out. I ended up behind Alice Rogers and Lat Purser who in an earlier post you will recall, I was concerned about being behind and thought I may have been pushing to hard so I slowed up.  However, this time I decided to stay with them.   Also there was Michelle Hazelton and her boyfriend Thomas Eggers.  At one point, they were discussing doing a couples long run together.  Talking about being the 5th wheel.  Anyways, Michelle and Thomas drifted back as I stayed with Alice and Lat.  After cresting the hill, there was a nice downhill and I turned in a 5:36 first mile.  The second mile has some rolling hills and I could definatley feel them.  At the 1.5 mile point the rolling hills essentially become an uphill for the next mile.  During this time, I was staying with Alice and Lat.  Lat started to pull away and Alice began to fade a bit but then locked in beside me for the big uphill.  In most recent races, I usually end up running solo but it was nice to have a runner near by during the race because it would have been easier to slow down further without someone to help keep the pace.  Alice and I apparently locked into a nice solid pace together as we worked up the hill. 

Synchronized Running

Mile 2 time was 5:51.  Going into the Mile 3 I knew sub 18 was still in play, but the weather and hill were working against me.  As we crested the hill, I began to pick up the pace as best I could and take advantage of the downhill.  I completed Mile 3 in 5:57 and as I made the turn the final straight away I could see Top Cat Cheerleaders and the clock which was counting 17:50, 17:51... I gave it all I had left but was not able to eclipse the 18 minute mark.  Official time: 18:05.  However, given the course and weather, I was pleased with my time and I hope with the next 5k to finally break the elusive 18.
There were some pretty fast runners at the race so I was only able to work out 22 overall and 4th place in my age group.  This marked the first time in the RFYL Grand Prix this year that I was unable to claim an age group award.

Recap: Good race, rough weather and looking forward to what's next.