AM- RACE: The day before the race, I kept looking at the weather, and it said that it was suppose to be raining with some snow flurries combine. I was prepared for cold temperatures, but not as cold as the ones that occurred in this race. Woke up at about 5:30, ate some breakfast, and got on the bus. Got up to the start, and wind chills were about 19 degrees and there was a fresh blanket of snow. Perfect haha!! Super cold and hard to really stay comfortable at the starting line for about an hour. We set off and there was ice on most parts of the roads, so I had to be careful in the first 2 miles of the race. I hit alot of 5:50s after the first 2 miles, and they felt really good and not very hard. My fastest mile of the race was 5:38, which I was happy about. Surge and draft was my main race strategy for this race, and it worked quite well for me. Just kept working my way up to top 3. Had a couple of rough stops as far as effort level, but they came and left for the most part. Finished with a good kick in the last 400, and felt good when I was done. Got 3rd out of 1,250 runners, which was exciting. Cooldown for about a half mile afterward to release some of the tension from the race. I am not sore at all, but the training block that I have done for the last few months is over, and I think I will take a couple of days off just to reflect on this last cycle. I don't know what my next goal is, but I will find something. Overall very happy with this race, and getting a new PR for the half. All I can say is, "If you don't rule your mind; it will rule you". -Eliud Kipchoge
| 