A warm spell – nearly 40 degrees – and relatively sunny skies greeted us for this New Year’s Eve 5k. Held each NYE, at 4 p.m. outside Cycle Extreme in downtown CoMo, this 5k takes us through a part of the MU campus, out to Faurot Field (MU Tiger football stadium) and back. It’s a familiar course, as nearly all of CoMo’s 5ks and 10ks take runners out to the stadium and back downtown, and this course (and so many other CoMo 5ks) is nothing if not HILLY. If we’re going to do well in New York, we’re going to have to incorporate more hill work in our training runs. The trail is great, but it’s flat as a pancake for the most part.

As I ran, I thought about preparing for the NYC Marathon, and the Illinois half before that, and remembered this Runner’s World list I came across yesterday:  26 Tips for Running Your Best 26.2. I’m particularly interested in #4: Mimic the course. The writer suggests, “for example, go up and down lots of hills if you’re running New York City….”

I’m happy with my time – 32:08 given the pain I’m in from last weekend’s fall. Carl did great, coming in at 26:10. Brent and Bev walked the course and we all met up at Coley’s downtown after the race for drinks. Then we headed to another CoMo staple, Flat Branch Brew Pub, for an early dinner. A nice way to round out 2013.