Trail 5K Tempo

May 15th: 5am wakeup. Small bowl of Go Lean Crisp in front of the television and a bagel with butter for the car ride. Leftover sweet potato quesadilla with peach salsa for lunch with a banana and a Clif Bar. Normal day at work. Home to relax. Goupil had mentioned a trail 5k somewhere in Queensbury as a possibility. I didn't get any confirmation so I wasn't ready when he got home. He goes "You all set to run?" as he walked into the door at 4:45pm. So I changed up quickly and we were out the door at 5ish.

40 minute drive to Crandall Park of Glenns Falls for the HMRRC trail 5k. We arrived at 5:45pm and the race was starting at 6pm. Registered quickly. Poop inside the YMCA (I had to sign in for my less than a minute bio break). Met up with Shaun Donegan (buddy of Goupil) and Jen Adams (Keene State Alumni and multi All-American). Jog around for a few minutes and some strides.

Off at 6pm. Decided on no shirt and the Kinvara 2s. Off the line well and expecting not much competition. Leading the way in the 1st 100 meters and this kid goes flying by me with ease. We took a lap around the gravel track and into the woods. The kid with the CW-X (expensive brand) tights and a t-shirt was striding away from me in the 1st mile. With the lack of warmup, it was difficult to get after it for the 1st half of the race. Once I warmed up, I started rolling. I was thinking I was gonna reel him in much earlier, but I was in true striking distance at about 2.5 miles. He kept looking back throughout the whole race so I was on a mission. Goupil told me to tempo it so I sorta did. Muddy trails and lots of turns, I passed the kid with flawless form and no heavy breathing. He reacted immediately and surged to get back in front of me. I laid off the gas and drafted behind him until the last 250 meters. Reverse back on the gravel track and the wheels came through. Crushed the last section of the course with a 4 second win and a time of 15:57.

Watched the rest of my friends finish up and a cooldown proceeded soon after. Jogged a lap with everyone of 2 miles, added another 2 just with Goupil, then another 2 miles by myself. Made it a 6+ mile  (43:28) cooldown and 9+ miles on the day. Nice change of scenery and solid effort for the day.

Back to the apartment by 8ish and a bagel/protein shake for dinner. Bed early.