2 mile warm up
16:43 5kish on Dixie's course
2 mile cool down
Race started and I led the team in the good ole pìna colada (I can't spell alcoholic drinks) and started mid front pack. The first mile felt like a jog (5:40ish). The competition weeded down to Nephi and the two Dixie kids. The Dixie kids took off at the top of the first loop and Nephi went with them. I was still pretty unsure about how things were gonna play out. Thanks to a great cheering section (freshman girls and dhills runners) I decided to not let them get away from me even tho they were a pretty good distance off. Paul caught me at the bottom of the second loop and he drafted off of me as we caught the first Dixie kid to fall off pace. We made it to mile 2 in 11:30 and then coach Holt told Paul he could win it so I took that to heart and started chasing Nephi. I caught the other Dixie kid crossing in to the center of the course and I saw Nephi wasn't cresting the hills quite as quickly as he was earlier and that was a confidence booster. I caught him before the turn to the bottom of the course and got by him around the tree at the bottom. As I pushed past him before the tree, I had a flash back to the hurricane all-comers track meet and getting on Bryan for going to soon and I realized I was doing the same thing. I really had no choice. I could've attempted to slow and wait for the hills or the final straight away. It's just the fact I had the momentum then so I went for it. From then on it was a constant push to keep the lead for as long as possible. I got 400m left and realized I could win and so I sprinted and ended up winning. 5:14 last mile. That was huge.
Winning a race is a lot less elegant then I expected. I expected more careful planning and deciding when to go. It's all guts and subconscious decisions to fight through the pain.
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