Notes
Soldier Field 10 Miler
Woah! That was unexpectedly good! Wasn't sure how I was feeling after the warm up (left ham tight), just decided to go out and get after it. I knew Eric Wallor (Saucony guy who Mike coaches) was trying to run 5:20s so I figured staying close to him would be a good idea. The start was a little quick, the race organizers had us do one hurried stride before basically turning us right around on the line and shooting us off. Kremske and a few others shot out to an early lead, and I settled in just off the back of Eric and 3 FF guys (Akita and two others). They came through the mile around 5 flat, and I just kept my eyes on Eric as I hit 5:15. The course was an out and back, so I had great sight lines to keep people in view as I chased. Held 5:15 pace through 5 (new 8km pr, btw), and caught Eric just before we hit 5 together. Tried breaking him over the 6th mile, but he held off and I dropped back a bit by mile 6 or just after. 7th mile I started mentally celebrating a little early and fell off some, but brought the effort back the last 3 miles as I tried to narrow the gap once again to Eric.
I was hurting pretty good much of the second half, and it didn't help I was in total no mans land coming back into a slight breeze. Ran pretty well, all things considered, and finished strong that last mile coming into the stadium. So cool to finish on the 50! 10th overall, won my age group, ahead of Pat by 7 seconds (40 odd seconds back from Eric and 50 from Akita). Great day!