Sunday, October 13th - Harpoon Oktoberfest 3.5miler

8.5mi*/55min. Oktoberfest 3.5mi - 19:35(5:27) 1st. This was a really fun race. Jen and I arrived a little before 10am for the 11:00 start and there were hundreds of people already there. Apparently this race was pretty huge. There must have been over a 1000 runners. It was a gorgeous fall day. I started off conservatively, running off the leaders' shoulders into the wind. The first mile was uphill. I decided not to take my splits but glanced down at my watch and saw we hit the mile in 5:28. I made my move after a mile and a half and bolted into the lead. The 3rd mile was pretty brutal, all uphill. The last .5 was down a steep hill that was almost too steep to run fast down. I got the win which was sweet. This was a nice little confidence booster. I won a case of Harpoon chromium replacement beverages and a beer fest boot for the team win. I had a blast hanging out with Jen, Brent Wilmont and Neal Graves. Good times! I'll definitely be back! I'm looking forward to more short races this fall and toying with the idea of jumping in the Manchester City Marathon. Total for the week: 60miles. Next week, similar mileage with hill sprints, a fartlek run, and a 10mi road race.