Johnson C. Smith Invitational (Highly Elite)

Time: 73:20
Distance: 11+ miles

W/u: 15:38
Race #1: 3k in 9:22.05
Pace Work: 10:27
Race #2: 5k in 15:59.76
C/d: 21:54

What a day of racing! Meagan, Tanya and I were up at the crack of dawn to head over to the Johnson C. Smith Invitational across town. Earlier in the week I registered for the meet and signed up for the 3k and 5k with seed times of 8:45 and 15:15. I was hoping a Queens' runner was going to show up and compete but I guess the meet was a bit too selective. I warmed up nice and slow on the track and prepared for the 9:00ish start time.

I was able to get around the whole "paying to compete" at a sub-par track meet one more time as I produced a pretty ghetto bib after cleverly finding my actual registration number. I'll spare you the deets on that and move onto the race. I was out in front from the gun and open with a 76 followed by several 74s. I may have been 4:58-4:59 through the mile feeling relaxed. The wind on the backstretch kept me from accelerating and the lack of competition helped my complacency. I kicked home to a blazing 9:22 a solid 48 seconds up on second place. That was race one.

During the time between the 3k and 5k I ran around the track at a decent clip for 10 minutes per Jailhouse' request. I tried to keep the legs loose as the 5k gun went off after the women's 5k. Good thing the ladies were running 20+ minute races. I don't like to share but I did my best today as I let a runner from Shaw University lead the first lap in 78? The pace felt comfortable and I took over at 400 to rattled off mile splits of 5:14.89, 5:08.38 and 5:03.28. I then dropped a 32 second final 200 to bring it home in a dip under 16 minutes. It was great pace work on the day and entirely in control. We left the meet shortly after the 5k and were back on campus where I cooled down a little over 3 miles running down into Freedom Park.

The best part of the morning maybe have been the brunch at the dining hall where I made a biscuit, egg, cheese and sausage sammich. All you can eat dining halls are the best.