I decided last Tuesday after the workout went well to run this race in order to see where I was at fitness wise. I also wanted to run it because two years ago I won it in 33:38 and even with tired legs and very little speedwork I knew I could beat that time at least and maybe win the race and earn a little cash.
The first mile I went out with a pack and hit 5:21. After the second mile or so it was just me and this short guy with a really fast turnover. He was drafting off of me but he was very close and it was freaking annoying having him breath down my back and constantly spitting, etc. I didn't pay much attention to my splits until the 5K which was 16:31 and then I began surging because I believed this guy was a chump who was going to die based on his breathing. I surged multiple times and I surged hard to break him but he never broke and would not quit running on top of me. By mile 5 I was about shot and he overtook me. Maybe that was his tactic, to draft and make me surge to wear me out. I closed the gap a bit but he was too strong and crushed me. It kind of pissed me off.
When I got home I realized he actually ran 31:32 at Clarendon last week so he was just dicking around with me like that Ethiopian at the Crime Solver's race back in August. Those guys piss me off. Make it an honest race if you can run 5:05 pace but they decide to draft off the guy going 5:20 pace and crush him in the last mile. Whatever. I guess I'm just ticked I lost.
The good news is that I can run a decent race with no taper and hardly any workouts in the previous weeks. The bad news is that I wasn't even close to my 33:01 PR but I know that will go down when I taper back for Veteran's Day 10K on the same course next month.
the best part: They told me they would mail me some cash for coming in second!
Results
PM: 1 hr. pool run
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