I start: 23:50 Yuk!

I paid the price for three (3) running days in a row and 4 out of the last five. I ran the San Carlos Rotary 5K. The scene of my last age group victory way back in 1995.  The conditions were perfecto but I was dragging. I promised myself that I would run it at 90% of max or at AT effort but I found it very tough to get going. My HR basically edged up to 168-170 and stayed there most of the first two miles. My legs were too tired for me to push it up any higher. Finally I began to hit 174-175 during the last mile but even that wasn't easy. I came across the line in 23:50 which was roughly in the wide range I expected. I had thought that 23 would be great and 24 not so great.  There is a big hill in the first half mile followed by some rollers  but regardless, my legs felt spongy.

This was not really the 90% effort I expected but closer to 85%. Not being able to push up the HR is usually a sign of very tired legs. My breathing, outside the first hill was fine but the body was begging for a day off.

I had warmed up for about 20 minutes and jogged a bit at the end  so I am rounding my day's work off to 45 minutes.

I had a long chat with Bob Anderson after the race and we talked about the challenge of running as guys in their 60's. Bob ran 44 and change for the 10K but he had run 13 miles yesterday.

If I go back and race again, I can see that getting my legs used to a faster pace will be tough.

San Carlos 5K

Aside from the initial hill in the first 1/2 mile this is a mostly flat course.  It winds through the neighborhoods of San Carlos and is famous once each year as the "San Carlos Hometown Days 5K/10K Fun Run".  Hometown Days is the third weekend of May. 
Directions: Start at the handball wall run toward Arroyo, turn left.  Turn right on Cordilleras.  Turn right on San Carlos.  Turn right on Elm.  Turn right on Howard.  Turn right on Cedar.  Turn right on Brittan.  Turn left on Rosewood.  Turn left on Arroyo.  Turn left on Chestnut.