~3.1 miles @ ~7.1 min/mi

"Go ahead, it's fine!" I encourage the women standing in line to get into the men's restroom as I'm on my way out. The MCRRC New Year's Day 5k race begins in a few minutes, and the queue outside the ladies' room is far too long. No harm; runners do far less conventional things outdoors before many races! This year the Half Beast is gone: volunteers can't give me bib #333 during the distribution of numbers, and I settle for #222, a third of the biblical Number of the Beast. I've been #333 since 2006, so it's time for change.

Gayatri Datta and I ride to today's race with Barry Smith, who is back from running the Honolulu Marathon 2009 and is signed up for the Disney Marathon next weekend. Gayatri plans to do a multiday stage race in the Himalayas come next October. We chat in the car and I salute their energy. Christina Caravoulias takes pre-race photos and runners wish one another Happy New Year. At the starting line Wayne Carson lines up near me, and sandbagging banter ensues.

Today's run turns out OK, a new PR for the 5k by about 20 seconds in spite of suboptimal pacing. Splits by my watch: 6:54 for the first mile, then 7:00, and the final ~1.1 miles in 8:02 (a pace of ~7:15). I finish 7th out of 21 in the 55-59 year male group, official time 21:54. After the race Mical Honigfort tells me about the group run yesterday on the Appalachian Trail that I skipped due to snow and freezing rain.

^z - 2010-01-05