My first race of the season (and supposedly my baseline, but the silly course was a bit long so it didn’t help much)!<br/><br/>Anyway, I ran around 20:04 (fumbled my watch and results aren’t posted yet) for 5th overall and 1st in my age group (yay for a trophy!). Based on the recent times of the people who finished around me (guy who outkicked me at the line won last year in a similar time, but runs from 19:10-19:40 elsewhere and a 19:39 just last month), my time is equaivalent to a 19:40 or so, which was my goal so I’m pleased.<br/><br/>The course itself was an out and back on the <a href=”http://www.bikewashington.org/trails/wad/custis.htm” target=”_blank”>Custis Trail</a> from <a href=”http://www.apsva.us/asfs/site/default.asp” target=”_blank”>the school</a>. I actually don’t know if the course was long or just grueling, as it was pretty much 100% hills. I think I have a bit more power than most (the only benefit of weighing more than them) so I was able to win up the hills. Pacewise I went out in 6:14, but then who knows what happened. 10:00 at the turnaround… Don’t think I slowed that much… 6:15 pace and nearly 7:00 pace (for that half mile) are quite different and I’m fairly certain I would have noticed. As I mentioned, I was outkicked at the line to finish in 5th place; I was 7th at the turnaround, passed three people, and then was repassed by one of them… That’s the sign of a well-run race. Hurray for having a good running brain!<br/><br/>Not sure if I’ll run this one again; my body took a real pounding from the combination of asphalt and hills… Only thing worse would have been concrete.<br/><br/>All in all, a well-run race. Timing was done “the old fashioned way” so results are taking a bit longer than I’d like, but that’s about par for smaller local races.<br/><br/>My next scheduled race is a 5k on June 10th, but I’ll likely sneak another in before then just so I can get a slightly better baseline. If I finish around 19:40, I’ll be very much pleased with my progress in the slow offseason and recent month or so of hard running I’ve done.<br/><br/>Note: Caitlin also raced and finished well ahead of her goal. I think the women’s competition was a bit tougher so she didn’t win any awards, but she finished in 22:42. Factor in the difficulty of the course and she was flying!<br/><br/>Note #2: For the 2nd race in a row, not only have I won my age group, but I’ve also won a raffle prize. I walked away with a $50 gift certificate to <a href=”http://www.runpacers.com/” target=”_blank”>Pacers</a>.<br/><br/>Edit: <a href=”http://www.dcroadrunners.org/results08/CompleteResults2008.htm” target=”_blank”>Results are up</a>!<br/>