Real Florida 5K

I registered for the Real Florida 5K, a race this morning. It is a small race, and a fundraiser for local parks. What drew me to the event was that it was a trail run. So I dug around in the garage and found my trail running shoes, which had seen many miles at the Redmond Watershed, Cougar Mountain, or the Powerline trail.

We had great conditions, and I just felt like taking it easy so I ran along with some friends. The course was mostly flat with a few short hills. There were the occasional roots to watch for, but unlike the trails in Washington, this course was sandy. It made for a good run that was gentle on feet.

I finished in 26:17, good enough for 46th out of 210 total! The funny thing was the effort felt harder than a 26 minute 5K. I seems like the speed training I'm doing makes you faster by getting your body used to the demands of a faster pace; it doesn't actually make running a slower pace feel easier. On the other hand, maybe it was the sand that made the pace feel harder than it should have.

It was fun and now I have a T-shirt with some kind of native American art that looks like a bear, a fish, a manatee, or some combination of these three.