After a busy spring filled with a heavy slate of road races—most of them solid but unspectacular, aside from a standout at the USATF 25K Champs—I wrapped up the season with a 10K on a warm, windy, and humid day in Boston. While the results may have been often remarkably average by my standards, this spring gave me exactly what I needed: experience. Maybe not everything I wanted—like a win. Since this race wasn’t streamed (as far as I know), I’ll do my best to walk through how it all played out from my eyes.

Race Recap…

Leading up to this race, my training had gone very smoothly. I felt confident and eager to race, especially given the strength of the field. Many of the top domestic based road athletes were racing, along with several highly competitive runners based in Africa.

As race day approached, the weather conditions began to shift—each day getting progressively warmer, more humid, and windy. But since this spring season has been all about exposing myself to a variety of distances, race styles, I welcomed the challenge.

When the gun went off, the field surged straight into the first bridge crossing over the Charles River. We passed the first mile in approximately 4:25. I was right where I wanted to be—running among the lead pack, composed of athletes I knew would be in the mix at the end.

My strategy was to stay connected to the front group but conserve energy over the first 5K, especially since we were running directly into a headwind. I focused on staying relaxed and tucked into the pack.

Around the 4K mark, we reached a U-turn followed by a slight tailwind. I took this moment to surge gently and move into a better position near the front of the group. At this point, we still had a large pack of about 12 runners. I knew the combination of heat and humidity would gradually wear people down, so I was content staying composed and waiting for the race to naturally thin out.

We hit the 5K mark in 14:23—a relatively slow split given the level of talent in the field. I expected the pace to pick up, especially once we crossed back over the Charles River.

To have any expectation in a race with so many good runners though is a mistake—the only critique I have of my own race. As we crossed the river again around 5.5km, we were hit with a powerful gust of wind that made it feel like I was running in place. In that moment of distraction, Gabriel Geay made a decisive move, surging hard and opening up a gap across the bridge.

I immediately knew that this was the critical move of the race. I tried to respond by getting into the chase group, but because the wind we were strung out into a single-file line, I found myself towards the back of that formation. The course then led us through a series of turns, which disrupted the pack even further and caused more separation.

From that point until the finish, I worked hard to close the gap, staying within 5–10 seconds of the leaders. I was able to catch and pass two runners who had dropped off the back, but I never quite reconnected with the front group.

Even though there was separation between me, the chase pack, and Geay out front, I found it empowering to still see the leaders just ahead. This was likely the closest I’ve ever been—time-wise—to winning a major road race. I ended up 6th place, in 28:35.

Looking ahead, I’m happy with how I executed this race overall. But after a long block of consistent racing—every 3 to 5 weeks over the past six months—I can feel that my aerobic edge has started to fade slightly.

Whats next…

We’ve had a big spring of racing, mostly following a cycle of racing, two to three weeks of training, then a short one- to two-week taper. It’s a great way to stay sharp and put together some strong races, but over time, that rhythm isn’t sustainable for maintaining peak fitness. Naturally, my first thought was to dive back into a big training block.

But with the marathon on the horizon this fall, Dathan has been cautious about not jumping the gun. A typical marathon build is only 12 to 16 weeks, and if we stretch that out too much, there’s a real risk of burning out before race day. We should know soon where I am racing this fall and we will be able to work back from that date.

So, taking that into account, the plan is to keep a solid training load through the coming weeks—enough to stay fit and build momentum, but not so much that we’re digging too deep too early.