George, I would agree that you can't know exactly where the benefit/harmful line is with rain as there are too many variable such as how hard it's raining, the temperature, wind, etc.  Still, I think it was a cooling factor in this race.  I was wearing shorts and a singlet.  During my warm up, I had arm sleeves.  I took them off after the warm up because I felt too warm in them.  I also wore light gloves and ended up wishing I hadn't.  There are a couple of other possibilities.

 

The first is consistency.  Although my training may have been harder in the fall, I was less consistent.  I'd have a month of 250 miles followed by a month of 120 miles.  This year, I haven't had any really high mileage months but every month has exceeded 200 miles.  That includes April when I missed a week with that awful intestinal bug.  Second, I have lost about five pounds since November.  Then, I weighed 157-158 and I'm now down to 152-153.  My goal is to get to around 148.  At 6'0", that would give me a BMI of 20.1

Brad, I'm nowhere near your category, but I've become faster in the last 6 months. What maybe has helped me:

- Like you, consistency (5 years of running close to, or over, 2500 miles per year). Miles accumulate.

- One training cycle (the Boston one) with increased mileage (from training in the 50-60 mpw range to training in the 70-80 mpw range)

- Running my recovery runs very slowly and working harder on my intervals.

- Losing (without wanting to) about 5lbs. I went from being sort of small, to being sort of a stick. Not really attractive, but it sure makes a difference on the course. Going up hills is much easier when you weigh next to nothing than when you carry lots of muscles, or fat.

- Believing in what I can do (that comes from racing experience)

- Having good weather luck on race day in my last 3 races (cool weather in Boston/Cornwall, rain in Bermuda, not windy anywhere)

That's a REALLY good point about the rain.  It's no secret that I stink at distance, but my HM went well because it was lightly misting and humid, which helped with body temp regulation and my dryness-induced asthma.

BTW I notice that while hot temperatures are a problem over long distances, they're a boon over short (I'd say 1 mile and under) because the muscles warm up better for hard efforts.  Sprinters do best in summer.  And now I have my vindication for running indoors or on the TM in winter.  Speeed.

Question for you: in terms of all-out effort and recovery, how much do you think is mental vs. physical?  For me it is very difficult to get my mojo up after I've almost killed myself in a race.  In fact, right now I can't even imagine it.

George, I would agree that you can't know exactly where the benefit/harmful line is with rain as there are too many variable such as how hard it's raining, the temperature, wind, etc.  Still, I think it was a cooling factor in this race.  I was wearing shorts and a singlet.  During my warm up, I had arm sleeves.  I took them off after the warm up because I felt too warm in them.  I also wore light gloves and ended up wishing I hadn't.  There are a couple of other possibilities.

 

I think there may also be a great deal of individual variation. I know I almost always appear overdressed in tights and long sleeves when everyone else is in shorts and t-shirts when the weather starts to turn warmer in the spring.

Losing 5 lbs certainly did not hurt, especially when you are talking about a trained runner.  That may have had more to do with it than anything.