Jump right in . . .

Last night Mama Joyce agreed to take the girls so that we could go out and do some birthday celebration with friends.  After some delicious Mexican Food at Nacho's (Yes, Michelle Obama ate here on her last visit to Pueblo), we headed over to the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center for Festival Fridays.  I'd not been before, but it's cool that Pueblo has live summer concerts.  We will definitely be back next summer to check out The Martini Shot they play at this event.
This morning I woke up with the intention of heading over to the Country Club to do a little swimming.  Saturday and Sunday mornings are the best time for swimming laps.  The pool is deserted and it's great to swim all by yourself.  However, when I stepped outside about 6:30, there was a cool breeze and the sky was cloudy.  Swimming would have been fine, but going for a run sounded better.  I decided to join my wife who was meeting a friend for a six mile run over at Dutch Clark Stadium.  However, when we arrived, there was a small crowd at the stadium.  Turns out they were holding a 5K race in support of the Pueblo YWCA and the Centennial H.S. Cross-Country Team.  For $25, I was in!
When we towed the line at the start, I found myself racing against about 20 high school students amongst a few others.  I decided it would be fun to see just how fast I could do the race.  With a length of only 3.1 miles, it seemed like nothing compared to last Sunday, and the HITS triathlon out in Sterling.  At the start we went out fast, and it took about a half-mile to work my way to 3rd place.  The eventual winner of the race had flown off of the starting line and was easily a minute ahead of us by mile one.  I settled in behind another runner and figured I would stay in that position and see what happened.
We hit the one mile mark at about 6:30, and I was pleased with how I felt considering that I hadn't done any real speed work in the past couple of months.  We continued on and before I knew it, we were at 2.5km and turning around.  The runner right in front of me kept a comfortable, yet quick pace, and I continued to sit just behind him.  A couple of times he surged slightly, but I never broke contact and stayed within 3-4 yards the whole time, at least until the end. 
The course ran from Dutch Clark down onto the nature center and was an out and back event.  Coming back, we hit the hill at the bottom of Dutch Clark and I was finished.  Not with the race, but I had no juice for a final kick.  I struggled up the hill and then another hill.  The runner in front of me began his kick and was well ahead of me by that point.  I cruised across the parking lot to the finish line, still in 3rd place.  My time: 20:38.  Not bad for an old guy!