High Line Canal Trail 10k today in Centennial, CO (5400-5500 ft elevation) 43 degrees and calm at the start, really good running weather, albeit a tad on the chilly side- no gloves, no stocking hat, just arm warmers. the first turnaround was about .1 short (compounded by another .1 given that it was a turnaround), I saw the 1 mile marker on my warmup and we turned well before it so I knew early in our race that this wasn't going to be a full 10k. I'm kinda bummed about that because I wanted to see what I could do at elevation in the 10k. Still ran a really good race though and I was happy with it. Warm up was 2 miles, then some sprint outs to get my legs moving for the faster pace. Got out in 6:06, then 6:02, then 6:02, so 18:10 at 3 miles, right where I was hoping to be. I got alone after that and the course seemed to get tougher in the 2nd half, my last 3 miles were 6:15, 6:20 and 6;11. I also ended up with a side cramp about mile 4 that lasted for about half a mile - wasn't sure where it came from but it definitely slowed me down. Crossed the finish line in 37:05, 6:09 avg pace. Course measured 6.05 according to my Garmin, so probably a minute or 70 seconds short (.2 mile) my 10k would have probably been around 38:10-38:20 given that. Either way, its officially listed as a 37:05, so it looks like I ran 5:59 pace to anyone scrolling 10k results haha. I can use this as a BolderBoulder qualifier and this will get me in the first wave, not that it matters as I have a sub-18 5k within the past 6 months I could use too. 2nd place overall in this one got a cool medal and a 10 dollar whole foods gift card. Cooled down for 5.5 - might have overdone the cooldown as my side started cramping bad and I clearly was dehydrated after the 10k effort. 14.1 total for the day, all in all a good effort, I felt pretty comfortable for most of the race and 2nd place is not as fun as 1st but its still positive.
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