clock … watching time, the only true currency

Last year, in the Super Bowl Sunday road race, I edged under 19:00 for the 5K. Two years ago, I didn’t note the race, although I did run.

In this year’s 5K race, I moved a bit faster, and came in under 18:30 by my watch. Nice. Update Feb 6th: Official results were even more encouraging, with a 18:28 finish (5:56 pace), 17th place overall, and 7th in the M19-39 age group.

However, while running the race, I didn’t feel confident I was going to even beat 19:00, which is my (current) milepost for “not too badly out of shape.” The reason? I think the mile markers are not spot on, so my splits at the first (6:20) and second (6:15, gently downhill) mile were disappointingly slow. The final 1.1 miles did not go by in 5:51, which is what my watch split shows. Sure, gently downhill (mostly) and I tried to accelerate a bit at the end, but I’m not exactly known for closing speed.

So, I still don’t know if this race is a full, measured 5K. I hope so, but… anyway, it was the same course as last year, so the trendline encourages me. I know it can’t last!

The weather was gorgeous, and it looks like it will continue for a few days. NYC weather doesn’t look terrible for mid-week, but it won’t match the San Francisco Bay Area.