B&O YorkVille Run 5km Canadian Championship Road Race

Race: B&O Yorkville Run 5km Canadian Championship Road Race
Distance: 5km
Date: Sunday, September 7^th, 2014
Pre-Race Preparation: Roll and stretch out my legs as they are still recovering from the Edmonton marathon.
Pre-Race Thoughts: Do my best to run a personal best and see where I stand against Canada’s top runners.
Running Surface: Concrete, pot holes
Incline / Decline: Decline 2.5km and incline 2km. Flat finish
Start Time: 8:00am
Finish Time: 8:18:34am
Weather:  Cloudy with some sun peaking out.
Pre-Race Routine: : Carb-loading Wednesday – Saturday, Ran on Tuesday and Friday prior to race day. I was sick going into this race so it was hard to eat lots of pasta.  I just kept my body hydrated as much as I can.
Shoes:  Pearl izumi peak 2
Socks:  Adidas
Fluids taken during the race: Half a cup of water
Energy / Calories consumed Prior to the race: Oatmeal, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cranberries
Energy / Calories consumed During the race: None. The race is too short to take any powergels. 
Sodium / Electrolytes consumed During the race:  None.  Just water at the aid stations half way through the race.
General Observations: Very high end race with luxury swag.  It came with bangolufsen headphones, new balance tech shirt, david’s tea, vega protein bars and recover drinks.  This championship race is extremely competitive.  Sub 19 minutes was the qualifying time for majority of the age groups.  The day was a bit windy for the race but there was an area for you to stay inside before the start to stay warm.  There was a track for you to warm up prior to the race.  I got a chance to see and experience the difference between myself compare to other top elite runners.  Wow, they are fast!! The post race event was speculator.  There were delicious hors d’oeuvres served to you as you walk around.  =)
Psychological Observations: I was just trying to stay focus on my pacing as I am running with athletes that are extremely fast.  I didn’t want to burn out after the first 2km and struggle to finish the last 3 on the incline.  I saw quite a few people slowed down a lot after the first km and I never saw them again in the second half of the race.
Post-Race Recovery:  Bike, roll and stretch my legs. Making sure I ate enough protein and vitamin C as I felt sicker after pushing my body to the limit. 
Things to Improve for Next Time:  Speed.  Definitely need to do more speed training to keep up with this bunch.