Sun 11/1 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k road race

Tyngsboro. Back to the hinterlands for this race which I swore off doing after finishing one spot out of the money two years ago. Of course, last year no one showed up and I could have won with ease. This in turn convinced me to give it one more go. Saw the eventual top two within moments of arriving and then old pal Ben a few minutes after that, and figured I had stepped in it again and would be going home empty-handed. Given that I loathe this course with its winding hilly nonsense, I warmed up in a fairly foul mood as a result, and within the first 600m found my fears being realized as I was getting gapped by the aforementioned trio. Pushed it as hard as I reasonably could to try and maintain some sense of contact, my only hope that Ben had bitten off more than he could chew. As we headed up the hills past the mile mark he started to sag, although I didn't think it would be enough for me to catch him. However, by the turnaround I had caught up and went by. With the downhill second half I figured chances were good of being hauled back in, which made the next mile or so a very nervous stretch listening for footsteps. Made it stick in the end and reached the 3 mile mark in the clear, at which point I packed it in and cut the engines. First mile went in just under 5:20, next mile in around 5:40, third mile about 5:30 or so. Finished feeling quite spent, esp. after a less than refreshing night's rest. Overall quite relieved to have avoided winning the wood medal again, although finding out that Ben has only been training for a couple of months makes me think I should give the race a pass next year. Overcast morning with variable conditions, winds at times blustery but while we were racing not so bad.