The Carlsbad 5000 was a disappointment, though I did not crash and burn as I was afraid I would. In fact, I ran the first mile in under 6 minutes, and at the two mile mark, was on track not only to break 20 minutes, my goal, but to break 19 minutes. But I could tell I was running out of steam, and ended up walking for about a quarter-mile (probably less, but it felt like a lot more). I ran the very end, and came in around 22:15 (chip time--I'll know the exact time as soon as its posted), which was good enough for a "Top 250" medal. At first I was kicking myself for starting off too fast; then I was kicking myself for stopping and walking, rather than running through it. But what it really comes down to is, I didn't train enough. So while I'm still disappointed with my performance, this was an exciting race, as well, as I believe that, had I had the training base behind me, I could have held the pace I ran for the first 2/3 of the race. So with a little more discipline behind my training, I could break 19:00 in my next 5K.