8/13 run: 3000m race!

I know, racing in my second run back from a short break...I'm not in good enough shape for this crap! But, it's the last all-comer's meet of the season, and I need to see where I am with the first cross-country race of the season coming up on the 30th. So with that, and sore thighs from Monday's run, I decided to make the trek to Shoreline and enjoy a 3000m time trial. If I wasn't ready, I can just step of the track, right?

I arrived around 8:30pm and stopped by the sign-in table to get my name on the clipboard. The first thing I notice is that next to the 3000m board is a board for a 10000 that is scheduled to go off at the same time. And the 10 has "37:00 minimum" written at the bottom of the page - sort of a "you must be this big..." for the track set. So I see that there's going to be some competitive running, which bodes poorly for me. Curious, I check the board to see who's running 25 laps tonight. Uli Steidl! Oh, joy, winner of 8 straight Seattle marathons and 37th at the World Championships...wonder if I'll be lapped tonight? *sigh*

The answer to that question, of course, was yes. Repeatedly. Approximately every 1 1/4 laps by the leaders, but really every 20 seconds or so by someone, as the crowd got fairly strung out.

Nonetheless, I felt okay at the start, although I went out a bit fast and had to rein myself in (yes, it's all subjective. A 52-second 200 is a bit fast for me). I got through the first 800 in 3:56, having settled down to a pretty even pace, 1200 in 5:58, and then slowing to reach the 1600 in 8:03. I was doing okay, but after the 2000 mark (reached in 10:12 - clearly slowing down now!) I started to really hurt. I didn't hear my time at the 2400 mark because I was gasping for air too loudly, but I know I reached the bell lap at 13:36. I really turned on the jets and finished up the first raced 3000 of my life in 15:39. And I wasn't even last place!

So, I now know I can run 2 miles in 16:46-ish, although could probably go faster if I paced better in the first mile. Given my conditioning coming into this race, I feel pretty good about cross-country. Is it possible I could run 8:00 pace for a 5k by the end of the season? Now, that would make me happy!