Moonlight Margarita Run

Mac had us all run the Moonlight Margarita Run tonight as our Thursday night workout. Most of the group showed and seemed to run well.

My goal was to run as close to 19 minutes as I could. I've only previously run 2 5k's in my life, so I'm still figuring out how to approach them. It's hard to start slow enough where you have something left for the finish, but fast enough that you aren't losing too much time in such a short race.

I lined up with Chris and Aaron at the start and we were probably a little bit farther back than we should have. It didn't matter too much because the road opened up really fast and we were able to get going. I was trying to hold back but it was hard to judge how fast we were going. The three of us stayed pretty close together until Chris ran past us just before Mile 1. The first mile was 6:05 which was right where I wanted to be. I wanted to hold that pace and then try to pick it up the last mile through the finish.

I pushed a little up the hill on Cesar Chavez and then made the turn-around. Chris stayed about 30 yards ahead of Aaron and me. I missed the Mile 2 split but felt like I was still moving pretty good. I was breathing and working hard, but still felt pretty good. About the time we were passing the track at Austin High I started my push to the finish. I ran over one of the speed bumps and pushed off on the backside to get a little boost. I was gaining on Chris a little, but not enough to catch him. My Mile 3 split was 12:45 (for Miles 2 & 3).

I finished in 19:30 (6:15/mile). That was good enough for 14th overall, but only 8th in my age group. Once I got home I figured out I was 6 seconds off my PR at the Bun Run last year. Not bad for a 90 degree, evening race after working all day (I'm sure I can think of some more excuses). It was a good workout.

I figured out after the race that I must have started out fast and slowed down into my 6:05 first mile. I then held the pace that I was doing at the marker. That's why the next two miles were slower than I thought.

Congrats to Sadie for setting a new PR by 46 seconds. I'm proud of her for running so well.

(I also just found out that it was 103 at the start of the race)