Bare Bones 5K Race Report

Before one of the flight training sessions in Top Gun, Maverick and Goose say to one another, "I feel the need, the need for speed." That's sort of the way I felt at this morning's Bare Bones 5K in Sailsbury, N.C.

Since I'm in the final stages of tapering for next weekend's Sunburst Races Marathon in South Bend, Ind., I'm supposed to be slowing down and not speeding up. I intended to run this morning's race at a leisurely pace, just to get my race in for the month of May as part of my goal to run at least one race per month in 2007. But when I toed the line to start the race, I couldn't resist the urge to run fast when the gun sounded.

All the conditions were right for a strong run...beautiful weather and a flat course that started at Knox Middle School near downtown Salisbury, traveled along a greenway trail and briefly into a residential area before returning along the trail and finishing with a lap around the middle school's track.

I finished the day with a new 5K personal best with a time of 21:32, placing me second in my age group. My time today eclipsed my previous 5K PR set just one month ago by more than a minute (1:07 to be exact). What's more, I posted my fastest mile split ever on the first mile, clocking a 6:47 mile. My third mile was also under seven minutes at 6:56.

I think I'm beginning to enter a new phase as a runner. One where I want to push myself further eacth time to see what my full potential is. I've dabbled with some speed training earlier this year and the time gains I've made in a short time this year make me want to keep pushing to break new boundaries.