I ran in the 13th Annual Joe Vastano Memorial 5k in Hamilton, NJ tonight and finished in 26 minutes 43.3 seconds. Not bad considering that I've run twice since January.

If you read Operation Gadget regularly, you know that I do four to six hours of aerobic exercise per week. At this time of year it's mainly cycling.

This race was a small 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) race organized by a suburban Roman Catholic Church that benefits the church pre-school. I'd been thinking about running in it for about a month, but I only decided to do it this afternoon. Conditions were good in that the sky was overcast with an occasional sprinkle of rain. The temperature was about 49 degrees Fahrenheit at the 7:00pm start. I'd call that unseasonably cool.

My splits were as follows:

• 1 mile: 8:12 (measured at 0.959 miles by Polar S625x)
• 2 miles: 16:36 (measured at 1.951 miles)
• 3.1 miles: 26:43.3 (measured at 3.09 miles)

I ran in today's race with the Polar S625x Running Computer that I've been evaluating. The distance measured was quite accurate, perhaps 0.3 percent off (3.090 miles measured, 3.1 actual). Marshalls were offering split times at the 1 and 2-mile marks, however the measurements to those points appear to have been slightly short in both cases. I hit the "Lap" button on the watch when I was even with each race marshall.

I found the Polar S625x very helpful during a race. I don't have to guess where I am on the course, the size of the watch/wrist unit is better than other running computers I've used like the Garmin Forerunner 201, and I didn't notice the foot pod attached to the laces of my right shoe.

This race was a good test for me. It means that I'm doing well in my transition from hockey officiating back to off-season training. Although I couldn't maintain the pace I was running in the last mile of the race, I probably wouldn't embarass myself if I entered a duathlon in the next few weeks.