Notes
Grandview Gallop in Dubuque.
Was on the fence about running this race to be honest. Decided to go for it after my Dad said he would meet me Friday night and then hang for a bit on Saturday. Left a little early from work on Friday to drive down with a quick stop in Cedar Rapids for some pre-race chipotle that has been working well for me. Took my dad to 7 Hills so he could eat and had one of their Mexican Lagers and a lot of water (Did a really good job of hydrating on Friday). After that we just chilled at the hotel and went to bed around 10:15. Slept decent and was up at 5:30 for some coffee and the breakfast I brought for myself (Banana and Applesauce at 6, granola bar at 7). Got to Murphy Park a little before 7:15 and started my warm up with Blake at the perfect time. Also ran into Ben Lundell ahead of time and made sure to line up next to him at the start.
Race starts and I autopilotted the first 40 yards or so and caught myself trying to chase a pack of Loras guys out of the gate. Reminded myself to relax and let them go along with some other people that had no business going out as hard as they did. Ben was around me too, but probably 15-20ft ahead of me but not really going anywhere. Caught/passed most of the people I was going to catch pretty early in the first mile. There was like two other guys that took a bit of time to pass, but even then I was by by about .75. Around that time we passed my Dad said something to the effect of maintaining contact with Ben, who was still around the same distance ahead of me. I wasn't in a rush to catch up, but it was good advice nonetheless and helped keep me engaged. Was shooting to go out in 5:45ish, but that was conservative and I was pretty happy with 5:41.
I remember mile 2 the least of any of the race. Maintained about the same distance to Ben, maybe closed a little bit. This mile was slightly uphill so I think 5:46ish is solid. Was thinking to myself that since this mile was uphill, that I had to get after mile 3 coming back down. I caught Ben right at the turn around and pressed a little bit. He stuck on me and we ran together for the rest of the way. It cannot be overstated how huge of a benefit this ended up being. Ben kept me so locked in. If I had a mental lapse or let up for a bit he was immediately a step in front of me and then I'd surge back to get a few steps on him. Was really happy with a 5:35 this mile.
Mile 4 was more of the same. I was racing Ben but also looking up at the guy we had been chasing since the turnaround. I couldn't believe he hadn't come back to us yet, but he kept basically the same distance the entire time. Stayed pretty much stride for stride with Ben with some small variations on some slight inclines. I thought I had him around 3.5 but then he caught up and pulled away a bit around 3.75. Similar to the blazing 5k I was resigned a bit but then with around 200 left I shifted gears kicked by him to snag 10th overall. The other guy we were chasing finished 6 seconds ahead of me. Apparently set the new masters record.
Overall very very happy with where I am at both physically and mentally. Don't think I've ever stayed so engaged during every mile of a race like I did today. I don't think I left more than a few seconds out there on the course today and Ben played a huge part in that. I think I could have easily run 20 seconds slower if he wasn't there. My last mile being the fastest is super encouraging. I still need to work on the .25 to .75 stretch of the last mile. Thats where its a little easy for me to relax thinking that I can rely on a quick finish. Otherwise I think it was a perfectly executed race. Glad I didn't pass up the chance to run against good competition in some great weather. Also crazy, but I just ran a second per mile off of my 5k PR even after having to cut back so much this winter from being hurt and traveling. Next up is the Midnight Madness 5k on July 10th.
8/23/2022 - Recently learned my official time was 22:21 not 22:22, so updating my new PR.