Outlined how I ended up at this race in Kansas City in Friday's post. Was shooting for mid 30s, but more importantly to compete well and place high. Accomplished the latter and more important goal.
It was a little windy this morning and that probably made the course harder than I expected. "Flat" is a relative term in KC... it wasn't that hilly, but had a few short rhythm-breaking inclines. Weather was good, though - low 70s, and rain held off until after it was over.
Started slow (5:10) in a big pack (10 guys) then I reluctantly injected some pace and got the race started for real... strung it out a little. Benson Chesang rolled off a couple 4:45s and opened up a large gap that was hard to bridge in the wind. By ~3.5 miles it was down to me and long-haired guy (Javier Ceja) for second. Miles 2-4 were 4:51, 4:58, 4:46. So, all over the place, but felt like a consistent effort.
The pace slowed on miles 5-6 (5:10, 5:05). Javier and I went back and forth a bit, neither one of us really wanting to commit to a long push. Just before the 6 mile mark I noticed his stride falter a little, so I threw it down and was able to outkick him, putting about 6 seconds on him over the last quarter. I'm closing races a lot better, and starting to get more confident in my ability to finish strong.
Not a fast time, but I feel like I ran smart... and I'll take $500 for 2nd place in a 10K!
Benson (2X Big 12 Champ in XC and 13:57 5K) won in 30:55. After talking to him afterwards, I realized he was fading at the end. Another half-mile and I might have gotten him. I wasn't really even paying attention to him at the end - I was more focused on my race with Javier. Waited a bit too long to make a push to break the tape, but like I said - I ran the smartest race I could to ensure a high finish and not blow up. Did a cooldown run with Benson and the guys from the KC Smoke team. Nice group of guys.
As I said yesterday, this was a great all-around event / atmosphere. I'm glad I decided to make the trip to KC.
Finish line GIF...
AM - 15 miles (3.5 up, race, 5.5 down)
PM - 4 miles w/ Andrea (bike) after getting back to SLC.
Some more photos...
Start (I can't find myself in this - where was I?!)
Probably around 2.5 miles
Not sure what point this was
Post-race
My rental car (only $10 + tax for this babe-magnet!):
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