Steve - 7.4

I'm up in San Ramon for a corporate running event. It's a two-day event with a 5k road race and track relays on Saturday and a 10k road race Sunday with track relays. I have been focusing my training the last few months so I could run well for this event, particularly the 5k. To my dismay, I found out the course was mostly gravel and had lots of hills, which meant the times would be slow. Regardless, I attacked the course, looking to put up a decent time. The race started in a parking lot and after about 400 meters, we turned on to the gravel trail. I felt like I was pushing the pace and I hit mile 1 at 6:17. It was a bit slow, but I didn't worry about it. Mile 2 was mostly uphill and it was a struggle to keep a fast pace. I just focused on shorter, quicker strides. No one passed me and I pulled ahead of a few guys. I hit mile 2 in 6:50, which was pretty good I thought considering the tough terrain and the climb. I knew the final 800 meters or so were mostly downhill, so I tried to build up my effort so set up a strong close. Once I got to the downhill, I kicked it in and passed a few more runners. I hit the line in 19:47, running the final 1.1 miles in 6:40(6:03 pace). Overall I was pleased with the time because the gravel really slowed me down and the 2nd mile was tough. I am planning on a 5k two weeks from today where I will chase a PR. I feel like I'm in good enough to run a 18:36, so we shall see...

Oh also, I ran in a relay later in the day. I did a 400 leg in 62 seconds and it felt pretty good. It wasn't 100% all-out, but it was probably 98%. I still think I could break 60 given the right circumstances.

1.8 mi 18:29 wup
5k in 19:47
.5 mi cd in 5:01
miscellaneous wup/cd: 12 min, 1.5 mi
400m in 62