Notes
Was on the fence all week about doing this race and last second decided to go for it. I didn't cut back the mileage or training for Boston so I knew I would have some tired legs. That's just a recipe for disaster on this course.
Gun went off and seeded myself a few rows back and immediately got boxed in and once a I found a hole, I went for it. First mile has a slight downhill followed by about 100 feet of gain in the first hill. Mile two for the most part is downhill with a small uphill bump by the train tracks but overall a fast mile. During mile 2 I started to giveback ground with people passing me on the downhills. I just couldn't get any leg turnover on the down stretches. During this mile Andy Gardiner from BAA (50+ crowd) and a nearby neighbor of needham blew by me and I figured I would just keep him in sight and stick with him for a bit. He's a strong 5K runner but I figured I would have him on the longer race. He pulled away and I never saw him again, he absolutely crushed this race.
Mile 3 is where the hills begin continuing into mile 4, gaining about 250 feet combined. I would gain some ground going up the hills but the flats and downhills I would just let loads of runners by me. Completely disheartening. I just couldn't push today.
The race could not end quick enough for me. I wanted to race and instead I just let my usual crowd pull away from me each time. Any runner I picked off just got me back later in the race. Depressing.
I closed out with a 56:08, still a PR on this course for me but not what I had hoped for with a goal of hitting 5:30 for an average or about 1:20 faster. I got the first slot for SRR with Pick about 30-40 seconds behind. Still waiting on official results.