Notes
I had no clue about what this day would bring considering I was recovering from the chest cold. The weather was ideal, about 50 degrees and the wind wasn't as bad as in the past. I went out at 6:30 pace and I could tell that my breathing was more difficult than it would normally be. Usually when I get off the series of hills at mile 3-4, I pick up the pace somewhat on the flat, but today the way my cardio was I just relaxed and recovered a bit for a few miles to find a rhythm. 5 mile split 33:08 (6:38 pace). It was here I questioned if I could do this as I was running at a harder effort than the 10 miler, a bit slower and this was an easier course. Then I thought about what Eleni went through yesterday and how tough she is, so she inspired me to hang in there.
Not long after this i seemed to relax into a zone and my breathing improved. 10 mile split: 1:06:09 (6:37 pace). I was maintaining even into the wind and my body started to respond. Gluts/hamstrings/groin didn't bother me much at all. When I hit the 10 mile mark, I picked up and ran the last 5K in 19:24 (6:15 pace) even with the tough hill at mile 12. This tells me that if I could have had my breathing earlier under control I could have went out faster and ran 30-60 seconds faster overall. Two runners I passed in the stretch in the 10 miler beat me by about 45 seconds today, so this all makes sense.
I am psyched that I ran a course 'PR' by 41 seconds! If the race was a few days ago I wouldn't have run, so I feel fortunate that everything worked out great.
Reno had good day finishing 2nd in Seniors even though he lost 30 seconds with a stitch. Doug was here for the race from Syracuse, NY and ran a strong workout type race, so he is on track for a good Boston.
But the race of the day goes to Susan who ran 8:03 pace, (despite losing 2 minutes with a pit stop). It seems like she's getting faster with each race!