Notes
GNAC 5k. Going into this race I really felt like hell from the 10k the night before. I tried to keep that out of my head though and was stretching, rolling, and staying out of the sun all day to prepare. Doing my strides before the race I started to feel a little better and even had some pop in the legs. TJ and Bill told me to just hang on the back of the pack for as long as it feel comfortable and move around people if they start to drop. This worked out well and kept me out of trouble early on. After a fast first 200, it settled into a few 74-75s for the first mile, going through at a pretty slow 4:56. Everyone was still together at this point. Right around 2k though, Kangogo moved again and started hitting 70s. Only him and Sean Miller(14:26 guy from SFU) went with that as pretty much everyone else was doubling back from other events. The field was a bit strung out after them. I think it went something like Otero from SPU, Kemboi and Koech from Alaska, Jones and Marson from WOU and then John and myself. We clicked off a few 71s and 72s and then one by one I was able to pass everyone in the chase pack besides Otero who had a monstrous kick. I closed hard again in this one, putting 2 seconds between myself and Kemboi in the last 200 for 4th.
Of the 2 races this weekend, this is the one that I'm most proud of, even though I placed lower. I stayed so in the zone the entire time and beat some absolute studs, some of who were fresh going into this. Fell free to TFRRS stalk these guys, they have some PRs that say I should have no business running with them. They also didn't have a cheering section like we did either though, our fans were going NUTS during both races, the entire mens and womens teams out on the final curve going insane for the races was an incredible experience. Being able to put on a little bit of a show like that is something that I will never forget.
A wise coach once said, "Running is 99% heartbreak and 1% satistaction." Live for those moments of satistaction.