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EMU Fall Classic 5K

October 20, 2017 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Low 70s and sunny

Comments:
Today, we ran the EMU Fall Classic 5K. Luckily this season I managed to run 2 XC 5Ks, which was different than the last 2 years. This meant that I finally had a chance to get a big XC 5K PR finally.

Going into this race, I didn't know what to expect. The course had some hills, but nothing too bad. The weather was warm, but again not horrible by any means. My legs felt ok from not having time to do workouts, and once I again I didn't feel very nervous going to this race. I did decide to mix up my race strategy and take a risk though. I decided I wanted to stick on Lucas for as long as I could and go out with him. This would either lead to an absolute disaster or potential PR, no in-between.

I ran 2.5 for my warmup and listened to music. Unfortunately one of my earbuds were missing, so that was pretty RIP and didn't go a full musical experience beforehand. 10 minutes before the race, Austin offered to try some run gum. I chewed it for 5ish minutes or so and got to the line. The moment I got to the line, I felt super energized and ready to race.

I went out with my strategy for Mile 1. I stuck right behind Lucas and ended up running with both Lucas and BJ. Paolo and Garrett were a bit further ahead. We got through the first hill pretty easily and the first mile didn't feel to rough at all. We were still pretty fast at 5:03, but definitely didn't feel too tired out from it.

After mile 1, I took a small risk and took the lead ahead of Lucas and BJ. I knew mile 2 would be hard to keep up and I felt good, so I took the risk. Once we hit some downhill, Lucas managed to get back ahead. I couldn't quite catch him again after that, but BJ was still running right behind me, occasionally popping back up with me. We hit the 2 mile in about 10:32.

A little before or after 2 miles, I was feeling a bit tired, BUT, I saw Andrew O'Conner dying out in the distance. I worked my way up to him and told him to go with me. He did not and I made a pass on him and never saw him again. I heard BJ yell "Boonk Gang" as he made the pass from behind. At this point of the race, we were nearing a K to go. I saw Tom cheering from the audience... and let's just say I channeled my inner Ben Lambert for a second.

In the last 1K, I saw Garrett in the distance and pushed the pace to get to him. In the final straight away, I kicked harder than I've kicked all season and managed to beat him. I crossed the line in a 24 second 5K XC PR of 16:29.3.

This was by far my best race of the season and possibly my best XC race ever. I felt so energized almost all throughout and managed to pull through on a course that was not completely flat. I gotta give a running log shoutout to Austin. Without his run gum, I probably would've run another 16:53 lol.

I also managed to finish the 3rd for the team, which was a nice change from 7th at Grand Classic. Granted it was a 5K this time and BJ and Garrett were not 100%, but I'll take this W for now.

Overall super happy with how the race went. I had enough energy to cool down 3 miles at 6:30 pace, so I'm hoping for a great Regionals next week. Can't wait to possibly show everyone of what I'm truly capable of in an 8K on a flat course.