So after my Boston high, I took some time to rest the legs. But I was still itching to run. And a 10k around Montreal's Olympic Stadium sounded ideal.
But as race day approached, I could feel my legs were still tired from the marathon. And my goal for my next 10k is a sub-39...nevermind I haven't even done a sub-40 yet! And I knew it wasn't going to happen on this 10k. So at the last minute, I switched to the 5k that was running on the same day. I figured I could probably manage a PB and maybe...just maybe a sub-19.
My last 5k was 19:36 so sub-19 felt possible. The weather was good for the race and I took off fast off the gun. It was a small field so I thought it'd be great to hit the top 3. At the very least win my age group.
It was only seconds before I realized top 3 wasn't going to happen. 3 guys jetted out of sight fast. Elite runners using this for some training. Dang! Okay so now i'd focus on 1st in my age group.
Quickly I settled into 6th position and was determined to hold this. But I'd gone out a bit hard and wondered if I'd have anything left to kick at the end. One guy was soon running with me and I could tell that he and I would be driving each other through the rest of the race. We were vacillating between 6th and 7th place, always within short steps of each other.
He held the lead for a long while and I drafted him a bit. Then he suddenly dropped back wanting to draft off me. We weren't really helping each other - hell, I was racing him! - but we took advantage of each other when we could...but after the half point, things changed. No more drafting, we were strategizing on when to make a move.
I was in the lead right now and decided to push it up just a notch to see how he responded. And he held on with me. There was a big downhill coming up and I knew I could drive hard down the hill. After my Boston training, I was well-prepped for downhills. It sounds easy but in fact downhills can be much harder than uphills, especially if you try to race fast down them. That's alot of pounding on the legs.
We were approaching the 4k mark and rounded a sharp corner leading to the downhill. That's when he made his move. He cruised past me pretty fast but there was no way I was letting him go. He got several meters ahead of me - the furthest apart we'd been all race.
But then we were on the steep downhill. And I gunned it hard. I charged down that thing just short of letting my legs fly out of control. And my plan worked as I expected. I drew even and then passed him. But goddamn if the guy didn't hold on. We were neck in neck at the base of the hill. So now I threw in everything I had. I needed to pull away from him now and try to catch the guy I could see 20 meters ahead.
And sure enough, I could tell he'd spent himself on the downhill. I started pulling away and he had nothing left. In another 15 seconds, I wasn't even thinking of him anymore. I had my eye on the guy in front.
He was going to be a lot tougher. The finish was approaching quickly and I wasn't sure I had the distance remaining to catch him. If I had another kilometer, i'd pass him. But there was now less than 1/2 a kilometer.
But I kicked it with everything I had left. We rounded the corner with the finish in sight. He was finished, I could tell. He was taking a weird angled approach to the finish. Was he delirious with exhaustion? I made a bee-line for the finish while he made his lazy arch. And I was gaining fast. But goddamn, there wasn't enough tarmac. He crossed the finish 2 seconds ahead of me.
I finished 6th overall, 1st in my division. 19:13.
Not a sub-19, but a new PB.
