Notes
Just out in Naperville racing while I stranded Dec at home. As soon as I walked in the door, I had a panic because I just left him in the morning. He did fine though.
Warmed up with Emma from NRC. Ended up doing around a 30 min warm up on the riverwalk. Got to the start line with a few min to go. So happy Emma was there along with all DW people. Start of the first mile had a small hill to get up and then pretty relaxed the rest of the first mile with Emma. Knew if I was around Connor, I might be okay but he eventually pulled away the entire race. First mile was 5:27/28 which I was fine with. Knew I probably wouldn't hold that pace without really racing anyone. Emma started to fall off and she worked back up as I passed this dude. The rest of the mile was pretty much alone. Went through 2 at 5:38 or so. KNew that Emma/Sarah were close behind me as people were cheering for girls. Basically just tried to keep pushing the pace but was having a hard time staying engaged and actively getting up on my toes a bit more. Another 180 turn and I saw they were probably about 10 seconds back. I know Em has a killer kick so just tried to speed up and hold them off. Went down the hill to the final turn and was breathing pretty hard. Final stretch I was running pretty fast but not sprinting. Didn't hear anyone behind me so just held it and finished. Little did I know they were only 3/4 seconds back. LOL. Shoulda pushed hard but got the win still.
Overall, good rust buster. Looking towards next week and having the girls be actually with me for the race so we can work together to catch people. It'll be nice to have a fuller race with probably a few more buddies. Goal is still to run 28:10, so we will see. Feel like I'm in okay shape. The course might be short still I don't know.
Whirlwind end of the week so I'm hoping we will be a bit more relaxed and ready for next week. No more hospitals and surgeries.