Notes
Good day to race. Nice and warm so easy to get loose. Good crowd and had heard that 120+ had signed up as of Friday afternoon. Warmup and striders felt good so time to test some things out and see how well the xtrng for the past 3 months has worked.
Course setup: 3/4 of the first mile is up hill. The second mile is rolling hills. The beginning quarter of the 3rd mile is uphill then a short leveling off prior to 1/2 mile downhills into the parking lot and slight incline to the finish line. Shannon A is there to time the race so shouldn't be any issues as he pays attention to detail. Water stops at turn-around point and at the 2.25 mile mark.
Take off and following Bryan Kelpe as he goes up the hill. Checking my pace down and although it is fast I feel like it is under control. Halfway up the hill I'm still at 5:40 pace so just relax, slow down a little and work on getting to the top of the hill into the park. Know the first mile will be faster than anticipated. I mile garmin alert at 5:52. Bryan has run a 5:35 first mile and we are now into the park into some rolling hills.
Both of us pick up the pace and I have gained a few seconds as we reach the turn-around point. 12-13 seconds back at this point. Head back and work on pushing through the second mile. Hit the 2 mile mark at 11:30 for a split of 5:38. Last significant hill taking us out of the park coming up and focus on getting to the highway. Feeling pretty good cardio-wise. 8 seconds back as we come out of the park with .75 miles to go. Pull a couple more seconds as we are coming down the hill and get within about 4 seconds of Bryan prior to him gaining back a few during the last .10 mile. Third mile split of 5:33 with 17:03 elapsed. Final .13 miles in :35 seconds for a sub 5:00 finish...sweet.
Kelpe crosses in 17:32. I finish in 17:38. Joe W is third in 19:17 and Schmittheze is fourth, I believe. Old men rule again today. Was wishing Bram would have pulled the trigger today as he would have cranked a sub-18 out. I am confident of that. Kelpe gets a side stich just after the mile mark and that is what slows him down thru the second mile. Fun race and glad to be racing again. Have another month before the COR HM so essentially two more weeks to train up.