Luke - 7.25

Bring In Spring 5k, 16:28 (1st place)
Evening race, at the end of a week of work.  Just enough time after work to have a little snack, then a nice shower and shave, and got there about 50 minutes before the start.  When I went to pick up my race number they asked my name and when I told them, the guy said, "Ah, right, the predicted winner."  And then on the warmup a guy was jogging toward me with headphones on and as we passed each other he yelled, "Random positivity: you rock!"  So really I had everything going for me for this race.
Warmed up for about 2½ miles and got a few strides in; didn't feel great but didn't feel too terrible either.  It was a bit cold but it felt fine on the start line.  Went out in first with a ~17:30 guy I sorta know in second, and was alone right away.  The course goes onto the bike path a couple minutes in and I was able to get a few 1/4-mile splits (77 and 76) which were helpful.  First mile was 5:03 which I was very happy with.  Right after the mile mark the course turns around, and there was a strong headwind the entire second mile.  The couple 1/4-mile splits I saw were 81 or so and I couldn't do much better.  Second mile was 5:25.  Third mile felt a bit better, probably because it was mostly not windy, and I did 5:20, and had a little bit of a kick but it was probably fairly pitiful, like a 37-second last 200.
By feel, I'd say my splits if there were no turns, wind, or hills (there were only a couple slight, short grades on the whole course, but a somewhat high number of turns) would be something like 5:03, 5:18, 5:18...so I'm happy with the 5:03 and think if I were to race a 5k in a month I'd be able to keep that pace up the whole way if conditions were favorable; I'm just not quite in shape to keep that up for a whole race right now (2 days running last week doesn't help).
After the race, participants got a free beer at Ninkasi plus a pulled-pork slider, a few fries, and a little cole slaw from a sandwich cart.  Also the receipt from the keg I got back at the beginning of February got me another free pint.  For the win I got a hat and a comped entry to the Cinco De Mayo race (might use, might not) but didn't get a 22 of Spring Reign like I did the last two years!  I was actually pretty disappointed about that.
Two races this year and two wins...plus Zack ran a 5k last Thursday and won, so the Hilyard Harriers are 3-0 this year (much like the Pac-12 on this, the first day of the NCAA tournament!)!