Notes
45 degrees and 20+ mph gusts on this cloudy November morning. This is actually the anniversary race of my first real race from last year. Got there early, checked in, and ran a couple of miles for a warmup. Have course knowledge from last year, and also knowing there was going to be a headwind for entire third mile, I though I should run the course backward and then come back into the wind. It seemed pretty bad but manageable. The course is your basic generic loop course around a school grounds. It ends with going down a gentle incline of about 100 yards and then you turn around and run back up and then the final.1 into the finish line. It was chip timed, course certified, and not too crowded, so that was the appeal to me. Lined up, National Anthem sang by all of us, then off we went. Weaved through a few people and set off with a pretty good pace. Had to pass a stroller in the initial rush out that had lined up in the 2nd row, so that was awesome. Held on pretty good through the first mile and was surprised I was more or less running in a lead pack of 3. The eventual winner took off after 1 mile and the 2nd place finisher picked up the pace a bit. I was actually pretty shocked no one had come up to me and passed this far in but it seems the really speedy guys took today off. Right after mile 1 another racer did finally come up and pass me and just hung right in front of me, we'll call him blue. I ran right behind him off his right shoulder for 3/4s of the 2nd mile until we came to a series of very gentle rollers that I thought I ran pretty well and overtook him. Made the curve back around to the start of lovely mile 3 and my friend in blue came back and passed by me for a bit. Then the wind came blasting into our faces. It must have been 30+ mph gusts at times and just made it feel like you were being pushed back even with maximum effort. Blue and I are racing shoulder and shoulder now and I mutter "Holy Shit!" to him, in regards to the wind, but he doesn't seem to want to chat as he just keeps running. The we finally reach the final "down and up" ending part of the course and I'm thinking this guy blue is, 1.) probably a little more gassed than me, based on what I could hear of his breathing, and 2.) he doesn't run hills as well as I do, based on when I was passing him earlier on. So down the hill we went and I just focused on deep breathes and getting some oxygen in my blood and not letting him get too far ahead, then when we made the turn back up, I just lit it up back up the hill and left him behind me. Glanced back as we neared the top and he had given up on beating me, so I kicked it a little bit and crossed the finish line 3rd overall! Then I dry heaved a little from the exertion, and puked in the lawn and layed down for a bit. No joke, that is exactly what happened, lol. Whatever. So, on a day when the really speedy folks don't show up, I got a taste of really racing and using tactics and strategies more than caring about a time. I loved it! Still waiting on official chip time, but Garmin splits were:
Mile 1: 5:55:75
Mile 2: 5:56:37
Mile 3: 6:35:54 (Damn you wind!)
Mile 0.24: 1:23:92
New PR on a super windy day too!