Great event today despite the teasing weather conditions. Lots of wind and rain. Ran out the door and ran to the starting line for a warm up. The rain stopped and the temps were around 70. Very humid, but not too bothersome. It was fun to see Kam and Angie at the start! Angie pointed out Rosy Lee, we knew she would take it. I misplaced my Garmin yesterday so I decided to bag pace and go by feel. I hoped to get in the 18's today, but after reviewing the course and years past female winners, I knew 19's would be great today (Jasmine won it last year in 19:11). I started out pretty quick, almost a sprint but it didn't compare to some of the kids and a few women. I immediately had to go to the bathroom pretty bad, but reframed how grateful I am to not have that issue in longer distance races, so 20 mins to hold was fine and didn't hold me back. The course runs up a significant hill in the first mile, second mile is rolling and some down, and third has some down and mostly flat with a short uphill near the finish. The net gain/loss was 0%, so the course was legit. I'm not sure of my splits but feel like my first was my slowest. I feel like my second and third miles were probably pretty even, but I certainly worked harder in the last mile especially with some headwind. I passed a girl around half way and was in 5th. I could see 3 ladies about 20 seconds ahead. Kam effortlessly passed by me here. With 3/4 mi to go, I could see Angie and the others were closer. I counted about 15 seconds and knew I needed to make some ground at this point. I put my focus on Rosy in the (far) distance and ran hard. When I focused back on the pack, I realized I made some ground. At the second to last turn, I wondered if I was in range to catch up but ran out of time, even with a concerted kick. They kicked hard too and we finished 2nd-5th, within 8 seconds! Kam was even in that mix. Hats off to Angie, she outkicked us all! The timing system was struggling from the start. I had to collaborate a little to figure out my time. I saw the timer at 19:24-26 when I crossed. The girl before me was about a second ahead, so that made it easy. They never got the timing figured out for the top 6 female runners, but it wasn't hard to figure out together. 1. Rosy Lee (?) 2. Angie Beebe 19:18 3. Kristen Barrus 19:22 4. High school girl 19:25 5. Tara 19:26. Afterwards I watched my daughter run the mile in 7:40. Carter ran the 800 in ~4 mins. Warmed down with Angie. My placement isn't too exciting, but I am actually pretty happy with my time and effort today. I never checked out mentally and charged the last mile. This was my 3rd timed 5k in the past 5 days and I felt stronger today on a tougher course (although my TM was pretty nice:). I feel 5k's are my weak point, but I'm loving how short they are as well as recovery! Walked away with some good certificates totaling around $150.00. After awards ($10 certificate), nearly everyone had left. I knew there were prizes in a drawing so I decided to send my family home and wait around. It was worth it. They started just handing out certificates from Big O Tire, Debores Running Store, food chains, etc. Nice to get your money back and more for a 5k. Happy 4th everyone! I'm off to watch Kelly Clarkson tonight at the Stadium of Fiarh-arh-arh! 
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