USATF-NE 12k Championship (Bedford 12k for the rest of us)

1st mile (I think everyone in this photo finished ahead of me)

I really wasn't looking forward to this race. I've been telling anyone who would listen (not many) that I currently have no speed. I could feel it. It doesn't mean I'm slow, it just means I'm not in road racing shape. I really haven't done any significant speed work since indoor track ended in February.
I've still been racing (trails) but nothing real fast. In fact I've only had one weekend off since Boston, and that was because I was sick. I really wanted a weekend off from racing. Oh well.
With all the traveling I do for races it would be hard to miss the one that's 9 miles from my house so on Saturday I headed over to Bedford, NH for the 36th Bedford Rotary 12k (results). It turns out it was a great decision. The weather was near perfect, I felt rested. I had no excuses.Today would be a good indication of my current speed. Just what I needed.

I lined up several rows back, looking for teammate Denis Tranchemontagne. I sensed we were pretty close in fitness and was looking for someone to pace off of. I couldn't find Denis so I settled in behind Justin Soucy (Pelham singlet in above pic). Justin was looking to run sub 6 pace so I figured I'd try to hang on. That lasted about 2 miles. Although I felt ok in the first 2 miles (11:48), I could tell I wasn't going to hold it for 7.5 miles. That was the last time I looked at my watch and the last time I was even remotely close to Justin.
Just after the 2 mile mark I found Denis. Actually he found me. As he went by I told him I probably went out too fast. I stayed with Denis for the next 4 miles or so, occasionally trading places, mostly running shoulder to shoulder. It was good racing. The climb in mile 4-5 wasn't too bad and the pace only slowed a bit. We weren't setting any speed records but we were working. Somewhere during this section we got passed by the lead women (3 total I think)

Entering the track for the finish

I picked up the pace a bit as we approached mile 6. I was hoping to put some distance between myself and Denis. I could hear footsteps behind me but didn't look back to see who it was. I just tried to keep up a solid effort to the finish. The race finished with nearly a full lap around the high school track. As I made the final turn I finally peaked over my shoulder to make sure nobody was going to sneak by in the last 100m. I finished in 46:07 (6:12 avg). Although it was way slower than I had hoped, hope alone doesn't make you fast :-)
I think it was a fair assessment of my current speed so I finally have the baseline I was looking for. Now I need to work on getting faster....again.

Photo Credit - Ted Tyler from Coolrunning
The rest of the photos can be found here.