Fleming Island 5K

It was an early Saturday morning, the unbearable humidity leaking through the house. The Fleming Island 5K is only an hour away, and I try to plan my attempt to break 20 in my head. I have put in the proper training and have the ability to break the 20 minute barrier, but it will only be possible if the outside factors (i.e. the weather) cooperate on race day. My Dad and I left the house a bit earlier than usual since the race was scheduled to start 30 minutes earlier than the usual 8:00 AM start. The extra 30 minutes probably benefited Dad more than me since he claims that "he is more affected by the humidity because of his bigger body mass." At 7 A.M., we arrived at Fleming Island High School, which is where the race would finish. Since the race featured a point to point course, we took about a half mile warm up jog to the start. More runners started to assemble at the start line, which was on a skinny one way strip of road. I started sweating after just waiting around for a little while and I could tell that the humidity was getting close to 100%, with a large cloud cover over head. After the national anthem, everyone flocked to the start. I got good position and got a good start once the cannon fired. After making a couple turns, the pack slowed as we took on a couple of hills. Once the one mile mark came up on the horizon, I made my move to catch up to a couple of kids who were ahead of me. I passed one mile in 6:30, a little bit slow. The humidity already started to take it's toll on me as my breathing started to become labored. I still managed to pass a few people, but I could tell that my pace was falling off. Mile 2 hurt more and my pace slowed to 6:40 for that mile. I kept wishing for the race to be over, knowing that a PR was not an option today. The course meandered for a little while as I kept waiting for the high school to loom ahead in the distance. Once I saw it, I knew I was almost there and tried to make an effort to finish strong. The race finished with a lap around the track, but I was in too much agony to enjoy this neat feature. As I rounded the final bend on the track, second after second ticked away on the clock above the finish line. A couple people passed me as I essentially jogged through the finish in a time of 20:44, almost 30 seconds away from my PR. I was bent over for about half a minute, then exited the finish chute with a look of disappointment written on my face. I was soaked thoroughly with sweat and waited until my Dad crossed the line. He was a full minute away from his PR as he crossed the timing mats in a personal worst for this year- 22:22. It made my performance seem decent by comparion, but Dad quickly shot down that theory, again stressing that he is more affected by humidity than I am. We met up with my mom, who was dragged out to see both of us (well, mostly Dad) under-perform in this race. I grabbed a couple of bananas and waters to drown my sorrows as I waited for the results to be posted. Once I saw a big pack of sweaty runners, I headed over there and slinked my way around to check out the results. I was 2nd in my age group, losing by 20 seconds to my teammate, Eric. I saw that Dad placed 5th in his age group, something that was best not to be seen by him anyway. Fortunately, by that time, my dad had already left with his tail between his legs for his group training session (he has enrolled in a 5K training program with Coach Paul McRae in an effort to break 20:00 and beat me at Run for the Pies 5K in June). After checking the results, I waited around for the awards ceremony so I could claim my hardware. By 8:45 AM, it was finally underway. They started with the fun run winners, who got movie tickets for their efforts, then went on to the overall winners. They failed to get beyond that, announcing that they didn't have any age group awards. The crowd around the awards table quickly broke apart, everyone heading to their respective cars in the parking lot. My head was hung over for the rest of the day but I have a chance to redeem myself next weekend at the North Region Middle School Track Meet, where I attempt to qualify for states in the 3K and possibly another event. So long and check back soon!