Ran a bunch around the course with Andy then did some more warm-up around the loops at the first part of the course. Got to the start and did 10 or so strides. Perfect conditions. I had a pretty good start but was pretty far back in the back. When I got to the mile I was around 30th and at 5:10. Pushed up the switchbacks fairly hard knowing that I would get to recover coming down the other side. At this point I was constantly passing guys which just kept feeding me. I used my momentum coming down the hill to carry me to poop out hill. Still passing guys I pushed up poop out hard and got my downhill reward. At this point I knew I just had to push to reservoir hill and get up it and I could handle the rest. I was slow going up reservoir with a couple guys passing me but I passed them right back when I got to the top. Got to the top and knew I had to go all out to the finish. When I got to the stretch next to the road I saw the screen pointed at the kid in the lead and realized I could see him and was right behind him. This is where I first realized where I was even though I had been trying to count the whole race. When I got to the little up on to the track a couple guys passed me but I passed them back as soon as I told myself I wanted top 10 more than the other guys. Then I was really able to start my kick where I flew passed 5 guys. One guy came up on me and I latched onto him. He carried me all the way to the finish but I wasn't able to pass him right at the end. Very happy with this race because I tied Tomy's time from last year and was top ten. For cool down I ran around on the course with my dad. I think I can pretty easily say that that was harder than the actual race with all the weedy hills and the fence climbing but Im glad he does it because he definitely helped. I don't think I saw a single other person get to as many spots on this course as him. Good day even though we got stuck on the bus ride home. | 