a win but still in a lull...

i won the Sesame place 5k this morning for the second year in a row. In years past this event use to be the premier 5k event in the philly area... unfortunately the last two years have been very sparse up front. I bolted out from the gun to the lead and within 600 meters could not hear a soul behind me. I came through mile 1 in 4:42... a little quick as I wanted to be around 4:48... but i was where i needed to be. I came through the turn-around cone at 7:24 and felt like I had the gas in me to go sub 15. about 50 meters after the turnaround... i realized i had a nice tailwind that helped me the first half of the race... and unfortunately i was now going straight into it for 1.5 + miles to the finish... SOLO. i dug in deep and hit two miles... i looked at my watch and was very disapointed to see 9:44. This means I hit a 5:02... I knew that I had to finish fast but there was not much in these legs today... I pushed as hard as I could all the way to the line... Did a little bit of brooks promo by pointed to my brooks singlet as I crossed the line in front of the camera (as this race is always on the front head line of the bucks county courier times)... I came in at 15:31. I was not happy with the time as I shook my head walking through the chute. Lesson learned (again)... It is more difficult than most realize to run a fast time with no competition... also, the course matters more than i would like to think... It was primarily flat but had an 800 meter gradual uphill directly after the 180 degree turn around the cone... which TOTALLY threw off my rhythm. I don't mind doing this race as it is a nice homecoming race for me, my parents rarely get to see me race so they enjoy watching me... and it is a race i have done since my 9th grade year of high school... I just don't plan to come into it with high expectations for a fast time like i did this year...