I wanted to start in the 2nd row, but got into the corral too late as I was trying to stay warm outside of the corral. My stomach wasn't feeling too good anyway, so I figured I'd just start and see how it goes. The horn went off and I quickly started to pick my way around the people who start quick. I was weaving for a few hundred meters and then found open road on the left side. I fell into a stride that felt quick and tight. I've found this works best for me when I try to go fast as opposed to trying to stretch my stride. I was consistently passing people. Turned the first corner very well. Right as I was passing two guys running together, I looked to my left and there was a doe not 10 feet from us. Just watching. Neat experience during a race. I kept up the pace and started to settle into this rhythm to see what the 1 mile split was. The clock said 5:40. I was a little surprised but felt good, so I decided to keep it up.

The second mile was setting my sights on people ahead of me and catching them. It got progressively harder to catch people as I went on. I set my sights on a guy in a red shirt about 100 m ahead. There were a few people on the way to him. I saw a tight turn coming up and a younger racer going into it. He didn't take it well and I used the opportunity. I hit the corner fast and went through it without slowing down a bit. I passed him no problem. Came through mile 2 split at 10:46. I'm not sure I believe that I did ile 2 in 5:05, but I'll take it.

Mile 3 was the least exciting as I didn't pass many people and just tried to catch the guy ahead of me. I was getting close and thought I had enough left to get him. We turned the last corner into the 1/4 straight into the finish and I decided to go after him. I turned the kick on and started closing. When I was about 10 m away, he turned his kick on and he had more left than I did. I knew I had a good time in the bag and was pretty sure I was top 5, so I let him go. I didn't have enough left. I crossed in 17:24. Way better than my hope of around 18:00 on a good day and sub 19:00 given my conditions. Not only that, it was cold (22) with a very cold wind. Bad conditions and not feeling good, 17:24 is GREAT!! I decided to check results later. I knew I wasn't top 3, but certainly 17:24 had to be good enough for top 10, my actual, big time goal for the race.

I went on with my day. Had great Thanksgiving lunch with friends and family. Took a nap and ate pie. Two long car rides later I got home.

Then I checked official results. 11th overall. I was shocked. My honest goal was top 10 and I figured that 17:24 was for sure top 10, probably top 5. 11th. I should be very happy. Afterall, my time at this race last year in better conditions was 19:49, so I dropped almost 2:30 from my 5k time in a year. But 11th. The top 3 were all under 16. Last year, a 17:24 would have been 3rd OA. I got unlucky with a fast group this year, but I really wanted that top 10 OA. This is important to me because part of the reason I race is for a healthy outlet to my competitive side. If I don't race, it spills into other parts of my life and it isn't always pretty. I'll be back at this race next year with a goal of under 17:00 for a definite top 5 spot.

I learned that I need to start racing more aggressively. I need to go out with the leaders and stick with them. I think I'm a good enough runner to do that and I need to start pushing myself. At the end of this race, I felt like I had some gas left, so running with the leaders would help push that.

- Get to the front of the corral and go with the leaders (I need to believe that I'm a good enough runner to do that)

- Don't eat Colombian empanadas and pastries the night before

That's it. I ran a good race, just would have liked to have finished with a higher placing.

Got Apple Pie, drank Chocolate Milk, waited for the girlfriend to finish (who also got a huge PR!! AWESOME!). Went home and went to Thanksgiving.


Not going out with the front pack.


I like this race. It's fun and a good way to start Thanksgiving. I'd do it each year.