Race Report: TnT Superhero 5k - Knoxville, TN (July 18, 2015)

This morning, my triathlon club hosted a fundraising 5k race for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training.  Naturally, I raced.  Here's how it went:

I didn't sleep well last night.  Didn't actually fall asleep until sometime after midnight which meant a very groggy start to my morning.  I rolled out of bed and lumbered down stairs. I ate breakfast, had a cup of coffee, did the normal pre-race stuff.  Wife and I ended up leaving the house late (because I was still half asleep) and I later realized that I forgot my race belt (there's that whole sleep thing again).  We got checked in then meandered around and chatted up some friends before making our way to the start.  

I hate sprint tri's, that's no secret.  They hurt too much.  I'm just not built for them.  I hate open 5k's even more.  They just hurt and I'm not a fast twitch guy.  That being said, I still lined up in the first wave with the "under 25 minute" crowd.  The gun went off and so did we.  The race was along the greenway (which I run all time) and had some pretty good little rolling hills.  I took off fast, too fast.  I knew this.  My hope was that I could put some time into the guys behind me and then slack off later.  This pretty much worked.  I had no chance of keeping up with the leaders but gapped the guys behind then settled into a nice steady uncomfortable pace.  I was holding 3rd overall, then around 2 miles in I heard footsteps.  Then I got passed.  He was hauling.  I was hurting.  I tried to hold him.  Didn't work.  Oh well.  Still hoping for an AG win (I knew no one ahead of me was in my group).  There was no one anywhere behind me.  I slowed a bit more (I would regret this later).  HR was steady zone 5 but I was still moving well.  Crossed the finish line in 21:39.  Not a PR but still good enough for an AG win... I thought.  After checking the results, I was in 1st place.  Excellent!!  First AG win!!!

Then came the awards ceremony.  I waited patiently for the other groups to go up then came Male 30-34.  I was excited.  3rd place went to get his award.  Then they called 2nd place, Derek Tingle!  What?!  What is this shenanigans?  I was first.  Well, see actually I wasn't.  Turns out, there was a late arrival to the race that started WAY back in the pack.  He finished long after I did.  But 17 seconds quicker.... poop.  That's what I get for not pushing to the finish.  Oh well, a podium is still a podium!!.  Had a great day, and we raised a lot of money for a great cause!  On to the next adventure!  Now, bring me that horizon.