Race Report (Winter Series 10 Miler)

February 5th: 6:45 wake up. Another 10+ hours of sleep. Decided that I would give the 10 miler a shot. Washed some dishes. Ate a single packet of cinnamon and spice instant oatmeal. Took a hot shower to loosen up the mucus in the nose. Out the door at 8:30am. Stopped off the ATM to withdraw some money for my part of rent to give to Goupil. Arrived at the campus at 9am. Took care of business in the bathroom before any kind of line formed. Out for a warmup with the ARE crew at 9:20am. 20:33 warmup (2.5+). Legs felt "clean" (no aches or pains) during the warmup. Switched up the gear into race mode except for the shoes and addition of a wrist accessory. I kept the trainers on and wore the watch to make it feel like a hard tempo run rather than a race. Rocked just purple shorts, a singlet, a light pullover and a hat (not winter). 25 degrees and I felt perfectly dressed. I studied the course map to make sure I didn't get lost like 2 weeks ago.

A couple guys were going to be serious competition so I let them take the lead after the 1st mile. First 5 miles (28:04). The two lead guys battled back and forth for 27:30 for the first 5. I slowly reeled 2nd in around 6 miles. Passed him before mile 7. Kept clipping off at the top guy until about 2.5 to go. I pull up next to him and threw in some decent surges. Covered immediately. With just over a mile to go, I made a move that I was able to catch him off guard to put enough distance to grab the win in 54:35. 2nd in 54:38. It was close. I didn't know if I was gonna get him because I knew he has 4:11 in his pocket compared to my 4:22. Fun run and faster than I expected. Oversized HMRRC running gloves for the win and lots of free food. 4.5+ mile (35:19). Oh and technically it was 10.1 miles so it came out sub 54 for 10 miles. Everyone had the run the extra so it was a real solid effort on the day and 69 for the week. Down week with two hard runs. Recovering well from my under the weather conditions.

Relaxed the rest of the day until the Super Bowl. Go Giants!