Notes
We had darn good weather at about 50deg at the start and 58 at the finish. Clear skies, breezy (which is always there for this race and always feels like it's in your face no matter what direction you're going!). I figured if Vibe and Jay could run such a slow opening mile and ratchet it down to their desired pace and get good results, well, good enough for me! So I ran my first mile at 7:02, which did NOT feel all that easy like it should have. I put it out of my mind and concentrated on moving down to where I needed to be. I'll spare you the gruesome details but splits were:
7:02, 6:53, 6:45, 6:49, 6:47, 6:43, 6:49, 6:52, 6:48, 6:47, 6:46, 6:49, 6:47, 6:34 (.11 mile).
So pretty even splits and I know this sounds weird but I wasn't hurting at all, just couldn't dial it down any faster. Don't know what that means.
I ran pretty far behind one of my clubmates and could barely see him up ahead but as the race wore on I got closer and closer while just running my race. He must have been slowing from his early pace. I thought for sure I was gonna beat him as that is not a good sign when a runner ahead gradually comes back to you. Anyway, right before the 12 mile marker I pulled up next to him and we exchanged some pleasantries ("Hey Tom, your shoe's untied." "Oh, is it? Your zipper's down, Ken"). At that point there's a slight hill (only semblance of a hill on the course and normally you wouldn't bat an eye at it but after 12 miles it hurts). He put a surge on me I couldn't respond to at all, I didn't slow down but couldn't up my pace on that hill. Another guy who was running with us went with him. They both put a few seconds on me real quick. Once we got to the top of the hill you go down and then it's flat as a pancake to the finish, 1 mile to go. I did manage to speed up just a little and quickly passed the other guy, who stayed "passed" to the finish but Tom just kept rocking and finished about 4 seconds ahead of me. Very fun final part of the race.
Good stuff, just wish I'd have broken 1:29. Say La V.
I will say that several times during the race I thought to myself that this pace should not feel this hard and I am going to have a rough time at the marathon in 3 weeks. I'll adjust my expectations on that marathon or there will be a major crash and burn!