Mardi Gras 5K

After driving pretty far for the Tallahassee Marathon, and kind-of far for the Destin Valentine's Day 8K, I finally found a race closer to home: the Mardi Gras 5K right here in Panama City Beach. Only two problems: 1) it was darn cold, at least for here (mid-30s - there was even some frost on the car), and 2) it was a 5K.

I don't like 5K's, and I never seem to do well at them. Of course, the smart Dan Horvath would retort, 'Then you should do more of them! You should always do more of the things you don't like or aren't good at.' Good thing we don't usually listen.

But we did today.

My goal was to beat the 8:09 per mile pace that I ran at the Destin 8K. I had no idea whether that would be possible. Also, another age group win would be nice as well.

I started at an 8-minute pace, and that was tough. A couple older-looking guys passed me up in the first mile like I was standing still. Maybe they're younger, I thought. Don't worry, you're doing fine, I thought.

But I also thought that there are a lot of old Floridians. Not to mention a lot of old Snowbirds like myself. Competition ought to be fierce.

I slowed a bit in the second mile. Maybe it was the slightly negative thoughts. But then I managed to pick it back up again for mile 3. I came in at 24: 51, which comes out to 7:59 per mile. Considering my other races as well as my training, I think that's probably about right. I was also gratified to learn that I won my ancient age group. I guess those other old guys were indeed younger. I got a cool mardi gras award with beads and a pink bird.

Here I am by the race mascot. The local run club is "Draggin Tail Runners'