Anthem 5K race report

Today I ran the perfect race: my mile splits were 7:39, 7:39, and 8:15 for the last 1.1 (7:30). Yay! My second negative-split race in a row, and probably the smartest race I've ever run. Granted, keeping pace in a 5K is easier than keeping pace in a 10K or other longer race, but still. My final time was 23:33, which was still off my goal, but much closer. I'll have to wait to break 23:00 again until sometime this summer or fall. From here on out, it's longer races leading up the marathon. I'm pretty eager to see how things go in the 10K next weekend.

There were something like 7400 people in the race today, or at least that's what they announced at the beginning. It was won by a 14:24 on the men's side and 16:57 on the women's, so it's fairly competitive; certainly more so than your usual local 5K. I was 25th in my age group and 91st female. Kinda nifty considering how many people were there. It was a very nice day for the race, mid-30s and sunny, a little windy (it actually began to snow fairly heavily shortly thereafter). I held back a little on the first mile, and tried to push a little more in the second, and then gave the rest I had for the third (and for once the splits reflected it, hehe). The final straightaway is the good part of a mile down Main Street, and let me tell you it seems like the longest straightaway ever. I knew I would see the finish line long before I reached it, so every second in which I couldn't see it yet felt like an eternity. Other than that it's a nice fast course. With the sun reflecting off the glass and metal of Louisville's downtown, it was in fact beautiful.