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Spartan Grand Classic

October 14, 2017 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 50s and rainy af

Comments:
Today, I ran an 8K at Spartan Grand Classic. It was rainy all night and morning, so the course was soft and muddy af. There were so many puddles, which made this extremely flat course a bit challenging.

I ran a little over 2 miles to warm up and listened to music as usual. Even after driving to McDonalds to use the bathroom, I still had to stop and poo in the woods. I was worried I was gonna have to go during the race, but that wasn't really an issue lol.

When the race started, it was an absolute shit show. In the opening 400 meters, I felt like I was battling to get through the crowd of runners. Joe Hegger and I were both shoved into the tree and forced to a near walk. And then I got in a shoving match trying to get through some close quarters. From the start, I took an L by losing Lucas, BJ, Garrett, and Paolo who I was trying to at least start near. I was able to catch Red Cap Jack up the first incline and so it began.

The first mile felt uncomfortable after that opening stretch. I could tell Red Cap Jack was full of energy as he yelled "puddle!" and splashed in every puddle the first 2 miles. I knew I was fucked lol from there. Wes pulled ahead of us right before we hit mile 1. I made it a goal to try to keep with him, but every person during this race that I tried to run with, I was savagely dropped rip. The first mile was around 5:20. This is exactly where I wanted to be time-wise, but I did not feel great.

Mile 2, Red Cap Jack and I were making surges on each other. I could tell he felt good and it was only a matter of time before he broke away. I tried hard to stay with him, but knew it was not going to be good. Wes was every so slightly off in the distance and I knew that I needed to pick up. I came through 2 miles in 10:50, which was solid, but I still needed to push the pace eventually.

Mile 3 is where Red Cap Jack made his move. I got passed by a few people, but ended up right behind a Michigan and Central kid for a really long. It started to rain pretty hard, so I could not make any ground. My legs were just not working very well. I hit the 5K at 17:03 according to my watch. About the same pace as the 5K from Little Tens.

Mile 4 and 5 is where I started to give up. As hard as I tried, I could not make ground on the Michigan and Central guys ahead of me. I made surges to go with a different Michigan kid who passed me, but I just couldn't get him. This part was pretty rip. In the last 1K, I wanted to once again move, but just couldn't get the legs going. Even with a guy a few meters ahead of me in the last quarter, I never really kicked.I just jogged it in and made sure Matt Ring or Joe Hegger wasn't about to blow by me. (Side note: I waited the entire 5K to finish for King Ring to catch me, but he wasn't feeling too good today apparently).

So my overall time was 27:36. I wouldn't consider it a bad race, but I'm slightly disappointed that I finished as our 7th guy. I wanted to be 4th or 5th, but I still have time to get back down. Props to Red Cap Jack for having a great race and figuring out how to run an effective 8K. And Paolo for PRing and finishing 7th in horrible conditions.

So, I'd say today was a pretty mediocre race. Not bad, because the time was consistent, but not great because of my team placing. I'm sure I'll still be in the top 7 at Nationals as long as I don't completely shit the bed at Regionals. I'm happy that we have such a strong team though and that anyone could be 2 to 8 on any given day (Well maybe not completely, but ya know).

I also didn't cool down, because I was freezing after the race! I'm still trying to warm up like 6 hours later RIP.