Notes
Pub series / SRR grand prix
Driving out to Dedham, I just watched the temperature continue to climb and knew that it was going to be a challenge running in the heat (need a little more time to aclimate) as well as still trying to get the bounce back in my legs. Talked to Jake before the race, saying I should avoid going out too fast. My PRs usually come off even or negative splitting, so I'd rather run my race today and focus on even pacing in hopes of picking people off the second half of the race.
Made my way down the narrow sidewalks to the starting line and got a spot in the second row with Jake. Gun went off and I could tell it was going to be a quick start. Right away, Larissa and the lead women blew by my and were running off Quintal's shoulder. I let them go by, but didnt back off as much as I should have during that opening stretch. First mile came in around 5:17, or about 10 seconds faster than my goal pace. Not the smartest move when I'm still recovering from Boston and running in weather hotter than I am used to these days.
Mile 2 was a drop back to reality, this time being about 9 seconds slower than goal pace (at this point now I'm at the right 2-mile split, but probably a little more tired than I should be). The first mile was pretty flat, but then hit some hills over the next few miles. Nothing terrible, but not a flat PR course. Overall there were probably only two "bigger" hills with the rest being some gentle rolling. Course shouldnt have beaten me up as much as it did.
I dont think I caught Larissa until the climb during mile 2, the lead women were out of sight the rest of the race. For most of the race, ran in a small pack of 4. The pack was good to keep me moving and didnt let me fall back off pace further, but at the same time not sure if it kept me from making a move to catch some of the guys ahead. Danforth didnt appear to far in front of me and perhaps I could have gone out and tried to better my position/pace. Unsure if the pack running hurt or helped. Overall didnt feel like I had a lot of pop in me today, so who knows.
By the time we hit the 5 mile mark, I was definitely feeling pretty wiped. Thoughts were running through my head about mailing in the last mile. By the time we reached the 1-mile to go mark, the pack started pulling away from me. I sucked it up, made a surge to reel them back in and luckily didnt completely fold. Shortly after, I saw a blue tent off in the distance and decided to keep pushing and slowly moved to the front of the pack and perhaps even pulled away slightly. Was pretty depressed when I reached the tent only to realize it was a water stop (1/3 of a mile from the start/finish?). Pushed through the last section just trying not to let anyone pick me off at this point. Hit the finish, and managed to create a 6-15 second gap from the pack I was running with, so at least happy that I didnt mail it in at the end.
It was an interesting race today with the masters runners getting the 3+ minute headstart. So much of the race was spent passing runners with back bibs and at times, was a challenge seeing who was in my race off in the distance. It was a nice feeling being able to pass people later in the race (didnt have any impact on my standings since they were a separate race altogether, but from a psychological point of view it does make you feel a little better when you're not the one being passed late in a race). At the same time, created a bit of a challenge as far as making moves on some of the open runners. Never really made any mid-race runs on anyone, just kind of kept the status quo of my pack. Who knows, didnt have a ton in the tank today so maybe wouldnt have done anything anyway, but just an observation.
Despite my disappointment in my time, I still managed another PR by about 7 seconds. I dont know what it is, but I always struggle in the 5 mile and 10K distances. Those middle distances are always elusive to me.
Once positive note is the race should have locked up first in the SRR grand prix (with the aid of Jake / Alex / Robert /Joe / Pickleseimer not running all the races). Probably not doing great in the pub series standings, but may be able to get myself into the top 5 depending on turnout over the remaining races).
No races scheduled until Evan's run (next pub series race), so should have 3 solid weeks off from racing.