Notes
Grand Blue Mile. Right away one guy shot off the front. And by shot off, I mean as fast as I have ever seen someone take off in a race I was in. Ben Jaskowiak, who won last year, got out quick to chase him and I jumped behind him. The chasing separated us from the rest of the field but the leader continued to gap us for the first 400-600m. Even Jaskowiak was going at a pace I didn't really like. I was working really hard to stay within a meter or so of him. During the first 400m or so I was definitely thinking whether or not this was the right move. I considered dropping back to a more sustainable effort and trying to catch up later, but I also really didn't want to lose Jaskowiak since I thought I would be able to beat him this year. I had no idea about the guy in first and just hoped he was an idiot going out too hard. As we neared the halfway point it started to feel easier and I didn't feel like I had to push as much to keep up with 2nd. It started to feel comfortable as I settled behind him during the two corners and was ready to go when we hit the homestretch. The guy up front didn't look quite as good at this point and I thought maybe we could bring him back. I started out drafting since we had a headwind, but noticing that it really wasn't too bad I moved up to 2nd with the plan to try to catch first. But the leader, even though his form didn't look good, continued to hold a really impressive pace. I was trying to keep up my pace but could tell I had been attacking for a while and the finish still seemed a long ways a way. I thought I had at least secured second, and then I heard footsteps coming back around 400m to go. Jaskowiak caught me a few seconds later and I really didn't know how I was going to answer the pace he was setting. The finish line just looked so far away yet that I didn't want to go into top gear. I gave it a little more to at least stay on his shoulder and finally decided to go for it as we approached the finishing mat (~150m maybe). I felt my glutes burn more than they have in quite a long time but I was moving ahead and just continued to drive as hard as I could to the line. I ended up getting second by a few steps and feeling really good about the effort.
I looked at the clock as we were approaching and saw 4:03 and thought I might run 4:15 or so but seconds kept on ticking by and by the end I thought I figured I would be around 4:20. I also heard the announcer say the leaders name and realized he was the same guy that beat me 2 years ago executing an almost identical strategy. So overall I was really happy with the race and enjoyed cooling down and watching the pro races. I finally saw results later that night and realized I ran 4:17.99 and actually broke the previous course record! Too bad the winner ran 4:14, and was also in the 25-29 age group so I didn't even win my age group. The time made me feel even happier about the race and also marks the first time I have run a PR in a road race instead of on the track. I always feel more comfortable knowing track PRs are official but this mile does feel very official as well and now I can say I have run 4:17 right?
Edit: Splits just showed up and my halfway split was 2:04. No wonder it felt fast. Some wind at our back but definitely a crazy pace.