~3.1 miles @ ~8.5 min/mi

In the last quarter mile of the MCRRC "Run Aware" 5k cross-country race I catch up with a little girl and, pushing hard, manage to pass her. I feel a little bad about that. But all guilt is soon erased when, finish line in sight, she puts on a burst of speed and sprints by like a rocket. It's 10-year-old Gabriella Ro Capizzi, who comes in 5 full seconds ahead of me. What a kick!

Since 9pm last night I haven't eaten anything, and I've only drunk water. This morning I'm scheduled to get some blood drawn for testing, in preparation for a routine physical exam. After the race I chat with speedy runner John Way and mention my excuse for my pitiful performance. "That's ironic!" John says. "FASTing makes you SLOWer!"

Today's run goes well, and afterwards I accompany Caren Jew for some extra mileage along the Cabin John Stream Valley Trail. Son Robin gets up early and joins me in the race. At my advice he trots along with Caren, and that pace-control strategy results in a good result in his first cross-country race.

The Garmin GPS trackfile shows the snaky route. The MCRRC official result puts me in 57th place of 187 runners, 46th of 95 males, 5th of 6 men 55-59 years old, a total time of 26:32. Had I been in the 60-64 age bracket I'd have been 2nd of 4. So much for hypotheticals!

^z - 2012-05-26