Bolt Run race report (mission accomplished)

Today was a beautiful day for a race; mostly sunny, around 65° at the 8am start and low humidity. What a difference between a huge race like Gasparilla and a small race like this one. It seemed a little disorganized, but the start went off without a hitch. It wasn't chip timed, but the field for the 5k was so small that I crossed the start line within 5 seconds of the start.

The race begins right in front of the Ice Palace (I'm old school, I still can't bring myself to call it The St. Pete Times Forum), loops around the building under the plaza, hangs a left on Channelside Dr and heads out to Bayshore Blvd. You head out on Bayshore and the turn around point is a couple of kilometers along. Bayshore Blvd is always a great place for a run; you've got cool looking mansions on one side and a great view of Tampa Bay and downtown Tampa on the other.

I was able to accomplish my goal of sub 30 minutes. I finished in 28:37, almost 5 minutes faster than my last 5k time. I started out a bit fast I think, but settled into a good race pace in the first mile or so. It was a little difficult to figure out my pacing because I didn't know the course before hand and the splits weren't really marked. They did have volunteers calling out times as we ran past, but the guy at the 2 mile point was the only one that said what distance had been covered. Up to that point, I had no idea how I was doing in relation to my goal. I passed him at 18:16 or so and knew at that point, barring any injury, that I'd be able to meet my goal. It was also a bit of a psychological boost to know that I was 2/3 done with the race. I felt pretty good in the last 1.1 mile and it certainly helped that the last half block to the chute was a downhill slope.

All in all, it was a fun race and a different experience than a larger one. I'm very happy with my time and improvement; I can't wait for my next race. I just have to decide what distance I want to do and in which race to do it.