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The Eliminator Race 2018

April 8, 2018 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 40s

Comments:
Ah yes, the good old Eliminator race. I always look forward to this race every year, since I have won the past 2 years. I honestly didn't expect to win this year, since I thought Paolo and Lucas were going to be running it; but Lucas didn't show up and Paolo was too late, so I knew once I got there that I'd have a good shot.

So, I'm super happy that I managed to get the 3-peat. Now, I managed to grab the 3-peat win this year for 2 reasons.

1. There wasn't a lot of unpredictability in the competition (no offense boyz). I knew from the start that the final 3 would most likely be me, Austin, and BJ. So, I know that BJ is a complete endurance animal and I have picked up on how Austin generally races. If Paolo or Lucas had also shown up then it would've very likely been a different story. No idea what would happen there.

2. The amount of laps was absolutely perfect for me. It wasn't too little where the race would've been too quick, and it wasn't much where the endurance animals like BJ would wear out the mid distance runners like me. If we added a few more hardy competitors (maybe Matt Ring and Red Cap for example), then I think I would've been too tired by the of it. So this race really played into my hands.

So here's my in-depth analysis. I'll let you guys in on my Eliminator strategy, as I want everyone to come equipped for an even bette race next year. Liz and I showed up to the Eliminator pretty right before it started. I pretty just timed everything really poorly and almost missed the event! Heck, no one even waited for Paolo RIP. I took off my layers and basically used the first couple of laps as a warm up. The first two laps were around 1:24 and 1:38. On the third or fourth lap, I almost got eliminated, because everyone was still in it and kicking. I almost let my guard down lol, but managed to push ahead of Charles (I may have elbowed him ehhhhhh) and avoid elimination.

On the next few laps, I really focused on who was in the back. If I noticed someone was dying, I hardly put any effort into the lap. There were a few unpredictable kicks (like from Yauchty and Jack Luxem out of no where), so I had to really pick it up in the last 100, but I really focused on conserving as much energy as possible. I knew if I could do this, I could have a better chance of winning.

However as things neared around the Elite Eight, I hard to start slowly winding it up and thinking about the top competitors. I made some decisions in these next laps to really help me a strategize a winning game plan. We pushed some harder laps in the 1:10s and race started to pick up more and more.

So eventually, the race came down to the final 4 (all log boyz!)- Me, BJ, Austin, and Ryan. This is where I made my most fatal move that I had been planning up, until this point. I knew with the final four I'd really have to shake things up. The first goal was to try and get Whinnery or BJ in a faster effort, and my second goal was to try and tire out Austin (LMAO call me puppet master RVP). I ended up running a 61 with the boyz and Whinnery went out. So then there was 3. I knew that this would be the make it or break it lap for me. There was really no way to 100% successfully get out of this lap, it was going to a pure guts race. So we went off and it was an extremely close battle. I figured I could probably try and outkick BJ, but damn did he put up a fight. Austin blew by us on the outside and BJ and I fought to the line. I honestly didn't know who got eliminated, but ultimately I managed to scrape by. BJ did Chelimo me, but ya know gotta respect that grit.

So by the last lap, I knew Austin was feeling really fatigued. I was exhausted from running 2 61s in a row too, but i knew I still had one lap left in me. We went off and fortunately I got away from Austin with 350 to go. I was feeling horrible with 150 to go, but I noticed Austin had faded and cruised into a 66 second lap for the overall win. 3-Peat Baby.

So yeah great weekend of racing overall! I always have a blast with the eliminator race and I guess I have to solidify my legacy with the eliminator race by winning all 4 years of my college career now RIPPPPPPP. I hope you boyz running in the future pick up on some of my advice. I know I'm kind of sound like Pat Frahm, but I just want to let ya in on how typically strategize for this race.

I'm probably not gonna do the workout tomorrow, so if anyone wants to join me, let meeeeeh know!