Notes
8 hrs of sleep. Left early for the race so that I had plenty of time to walk from the Tidal Basin w/ Olga to the start. Did a thorough warm up (~20 mins), drills, stretches (including hammy), and a couple of striders so I felt pretty ready for the race, Tried to hold back at first, knowing that there were very strong winds on the way back. Kept steady pace in the 1st 2 miles per race plan, but started fading after the turnaround into the wind around the tip of Hains Point (mile 2.5). I got into a line with others ahead of me, but for the brief time I was with them they also faded a bit (in hindsight). At the the 1/2 my right shoe lace started loosening up, coming loose by the tip of Hains Point again (mile ~3.8). I was running in no man's land and slowly faded a bit. Right before mile 4 a tall guy passed me and I latched on to him, this was very helpful, but I was having a hard time keeping up with the ~6:45-6:50 pace then and let him go around mile 5. Another older dude passed and I tagged along again, with another dude with a bright yellow top. We ran together into the final straight, my right shoe being increasingly loose. At 5.9, after trying to chase a kid sprinting towards the finish I kicked my shoe and finished the race without it. I still had a kick fortunately.
Hopefully next week it won't be as windy.