Great Island 5K race recap

Yesterday I ran the Great Island 5k in New Castle. It was a perfect fall day for a race and I was pumped to be out there. I found out when I arrived that Nate Jenkins and Aliaksandr (sp?) Leuchanka (AL) were running as well so I knew I wasn't going to be walking away with this one easily. AL has been running well all season and Nate is always a super tough competitor when I've raced him in the past. I didn't know exactly what kind of shape each of them were in, so I focused on myself. I tried not to think too much about the training I had put in over the previous 5 days, as the miles have really piled on. I actually didn't add it all up until just now, where I count 93 miles of running in 6 days if you include the mileage from race day.

I knew I was in for a battle as soon as the gun went off. The three of us separated from the pack and it was clear nobody else was in the picture. I got out and led for about the first mile, which we covered in 4:48, the quickest of the race. I felt good, straining, but ok. I felt some slight twinges in my right groin but overall nothing too scary. I threw in a surge or two here and there to try and test those guys but they hung really tough. From that point I knew it would come down to the last few hundred meters.

I relaxed slightly and Nate jumped ahead going around this corner by the water that led into a quick little downhill. He was trying to break open a little gap by using the downhill, but AL and I stuck with him. Ripping through some of those turns was really fun, and the race itself can be pretty tactical from that perspective. Especially when you add in all the little tiny ups and downs.

Me, dude in the back, in my attempts to stay with the leaders

Through the next mile or so I was hanging on the back of these two as we were all clearly working pretty damn hard. Turning down on Pit Lane and then back onto 1B I was gassed, let off the pedal for a moment and lost a little bit of ground on the two of them. I worked my way back a little bit and was momentarily inspired by the cheering crowd with about 500m to go, but was burning on all cylinders at that point and though I was gaining for a short time, it wasn't something I could keep up through the finish. I ended up crossing in third, momentarily disappointed to have lost, but overall pretty pleased with the way I competed and the time I was rewarded with. After just a couple months of dedicated training, and only a few weeks of hard training, I was pretty proud of myself.

When I add in the fact that I'd run a moderately hard 13 miles the day before and done plenty of tough running and mileage over the days prior, I had a lot to be optimistic about. At the same fitness level but with fresh legs I'm confident I could've run much faster and been more competitive with those guys in the latter stages of the race.

Looking back, it was a lot of fun really racing people again. It's been a long while since I've been in those dire late race scenarios where everyone is just crushing each other and themselves for a small little edge. It's without a doubt the best and most exhilarating part of running. Also the most stressful. Too bad I didn't come across with the win on this one, but hey, there are always more races on the calendar.

AH
 
Results:
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/15/nh/Oct11_22ndGr_set1.shtml

Seacoast Online article:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20151011/SPORTS/151019886