Fudgesicle 5k (3.16) race

You have got to love the Fudgesicle races.  The GLRR puts on this series from January through February no matter what the weather is.  It is a great way to get in 10 miles (if you warm-up/warm-down on the course) before 9am and get some speed work/racing in as well.

I wanted to test my glute out this weekend and after avoiding any races on New Years day I was itching to get out there.  The big snowstorm dropped 18" on Friday and the cold weather blew in pegging the temps at well below zero over night.  When I got to the parking lot at 7:15 it was 3 below zero and the roads were all slick with snow (there were a few random patches of bare ground).

Mike Quintal showed up and we headed out for a loop as a warm-up.  Timing just right so that we rolled back to the car as they announced "five minutes".  I quickly changed into 3 layers of dry tops and a face mask along with switching into Inov-8 shoes.  I'd worn Kahtoola traction devices for the warm-up but didn't want to wear them during the race.  Mike wasn't sure where his fitness was at and I honestly had no idea of how fast I could go in these conditions.  I'd run a bit over 6:00 pace a month ago at Mill City Relay and hope to be somewhere in that ball-park.

At the start Mike shot out with one other guy.  It took me 1/4 mile to get by the one brave (foolish?) person who was running in shorts.  At about 1/2 mile I caught up to the leaders.  Mike sounded a bit ragged but he looked smooth.  I accelerated a bit and he re-upped the pace.  Just before the mile mark we dropped the other guy.  We passed the mile in 5:58.

Mike made a couple of accelerations during the second mile and he gapped me each time.  I kept thinking "keep as close as you can through 2", hoping he would drag me to a decent time.  We hit 2 miles with me one step back in 11:56 (5:58).  Mike made another move and I thought he broke free but I closed back on him with 1/2 mile to go but I couldn't shake him. 

With less than a minute of running to go I threw everything I had into a kick and slightly gapped Mike, my hope would be that he really wasn't all that interested in kicking and would ease up.  He didn't, and with 100 to go he flew by.  All in all it was a good race with lots of back and forth and he result (18:50 for 3.16) running sub 6's was better than I'd hoped.  It certainly was a good start to the new year.

We headed out for another loop and then we were done, 10 miles in the bank and it was still early :-)

Fudge results:

   1 Michael Qunital     2327   1/7   35 M3039 NORTH ANDO MA   18:48  6:04
    2 Dave Dunham         2326   1/4   49 M4049 Bradford   MA   18:50  6:04
    3 Liam Skinner        2335   2/4   47 M4049 LOWELL     MA   19:25  6:15
    4 Tommy Skinner       2336   1/1   17 M1519 LOWELL     MA   19:28  6:16
    5 Ken Cain            2369   3/4   42 M4049 Andover    MA   19:57  6:25
    6 Jason Bui           2375   2/7   33 M3039 Everytown  US   21:01  6:46
    7 Colin Loghin        2356   3/7   38 M3039 Westford   MA   21:03  6:47
    8 Mark Blaisdell      2353   1/14  56 M5059 WILMINGTON MA   22:51  7:22
    9 Michael Luebech     2341   1/1   28 M2029 LOWELL     MA   23:00  7:24