Dover Footbridge 5k

Saturday morning I travelled over to Dover NH for the Dover Footbridge 5k. It represents race #1 for the NH Seacoast Series and I knew there was going o be a good field there so I wanted to see what I could run on this course. I met up with Bob Wiles, Jim Johnson, and Chris Mahoney as well as Heather Anne Searles for a run over the course and soon realized it was not a course suitable for super fast times as the firt mile is uphill and then the 2nd mile has a few bumps as well although it features a lengthy downhill. The 3rd mile is rolling and takes you over the footbridge to the finish line. As we warmed up, I began to think that the increasing temps might play a role, too. Honestly, after the warmup, I felt like going home. Not good news. I had very little in me today but did manage to gather myself and made my way to the starting line.

I was focused on Dan Verrington (CMS teammate) as he always runs well and I figured he was the top master runner in the race. Neither one of us got out great but he got out a little quicker than me as he hit the mile in 5:22 and I arrived in 5:29. This was pretty much the difference the entire race save for a few more ticks at the end. Dan ran 16:54 and I ran 17:09. My splits were fairly even (529/533/532/33) but I couldn't switch gears. My plan is to keep putting on the miles and try a couple of workouts but no racing until the Bedford 12k.