Unexpected 5K

April 21st: 6:30am wakeup. Laid in bed for a bit. Eventually up to change into running clothes. Rocked my "RUN FAST" shirt to promote my buddy's business Beeze Tees. Bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats for breakfast. Out the door at 7:20am. Stopped off at Da Choppa to grab some Gatorade. Up to Saratoga to drive Goupil for a 10K/5K double attempt as a workout day. I planned on just running between the two events because the 10K was at 9am and the 5K was at 11am. 

At the race venue (Saratoga Performing Arts Center, SPAC) by 7:50am. Found the registration pavilion after walking through some of the trails. Goupil hit the bathrooms before registration. This meant I waited at the playground. Down the slide about 20 times. Registered and back to the car to drop off the sweats and warm up with Goupil 2+ miles (15:34). Finished at the car to let Goupil change into his racers and throw on his number. We headed over the start. I watched the start and stayed on the same road because the 3 mile mark was down the road a little ways. Goupil was through 3 and I asked him how he felt. Not so good. Soon after he dropped due to the throbbing pain in his foot. The 1/2 mile walk back to the car, Goupil convinced me to tempo the 5k in his place. Cool with me. Goupil changed up and I threw on half tights for the warmup. Over to the finish line to try to find ice and wait to warmup. 

Decided on a 4 mile warmup (28:15). Followed some of the RPI cross country course to avoid getting lost. Back to the car by 10:40am to remove the shirt, pin the number on, and NOT put on the racers (I wasn't planning on racing). Kept the Kinvara 2's on. Over to the start line. Too early. Cruised right past it to the finish line to find Goupil. Back to the starting line with Goupil's friend, Sean. A mix between Sam Wood and Peter Najem. It was awesome. Real chill. A stride or two before the start.

Race off at 11am. Out to the front and no looking back. I didn't ask my coach (Goupil) on what the pace should be so I went with relaxed and smooth. 5:00 1st mile. Nobody with me. 5:10 2nd mile. 5:02 3rd mile. Finished up in 15:44. I wore a watch so it took off the edge of the race. Felt more like a 3 mile TT. Cooled down almost immediately. 2 mile (14+). 11 on the day. Lots of compliments on my "RUN FAST" shirt.

Awards took forever so I ate a bunch of cookies and eventually received a medal. Back to the apartment by 1:30 or so. Relaxed and watched some television. Bowl of Go Lean Crunch with a chopped up banana and a protein shake. Didn't feel like making any food. On and off napping from 5pm to 7:45pm. Up to make a delicious burger with cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Onions and mushrooms. Freshly cut tomato slices. Chowed it down.

Out to Saratoga for the night by 9pm. Stayed at one bar the whole night because it was raining out. Fun time. Pizza late night and crashed on my buddy's coach for the night.