5k Title Run

     July 25, 2010. First time at a US championship track meet since 1991. To compete anyway. The race was scheduled to go off at 10:30 a.m. to escape the afternoon heat. I was up at 6:30 for a small breakfast and to wake the body up before heading to the track. Staying at my college teammate's house was great because I got to make my own breakfast instead of going to a restaurant and risking the menu choices. This was also the day of the last climbing stage in the Tour de France. To say the least, I couldn't leave the television despite the fact I wanted to get to the track a little early and relax. Talk about some inspiration!!
     Warmed up and ready to go, we had to wait for a couple 200m races in the men's 60-64 pentathlon. No big deal. We finally got on the track for a few strides, then lined up for the start. Now, having looked over the entry list and doing a little online research, I figured it to be a 4 man race. Three of us had marks under 16 minutes and Pete Magill, entered without a time, is the American record holder in the event. I figured correctly, as Francis Burdette took the lead and Pete, myself, and Kevin Forde fell in behind. Pete took the lead after 3-4 laps and we passed through 1600m in 4:55. Soon Francis fell off and Pete opened up a 10m or so lead on Kevin and I. Going through 3200m at 9:55, Pete was now 15-20m up on me and Kevin was slowly losing ground. I needed to make a decision. With just over 2 laps to go, I glanced back to make sure that a failed bold move would still give me the silver. I was clear of Kevin and went after Pete. He seemed to have made a decision to increase his lead because I had gained nothing coming to the bell lap. But I sensed something as I moved into the backstretch. I started a long charge and soon had Pete within a stride as we hit the steeplechase pit. It was time to go, and I went hard as we hit the home straight. Not having raced Pete before, I didn't know anything about his finishing speed. We both dug deep, and I was lucky to have plenty left. Crossing the finish line with my first track title, I managed to win by about 1.5 seconds.
15:25.79, a season improvement of 23 seconds and 12 seconds better than last year! Most importantly, a good win against some great Master's veterans.  Kevin ran a phat season PR as well for 3rd.
     The weekend had begun. 48 hours to recover and prepare for an 800m final. The idea of racing again against the best had become a reality, and as Pete said later, THIS IS FUN!!!