Notes
Goal going into the race was sub 1:00 but with the weather forecast I wasn't sure if this would be possible. Felt like I did a good job with nutrition and fluids during the day and didn't feel too unsettled by the time the race started. Race start was at 6:00 but arrived around 5:00 as L. was doing her 30K at 5:30.DId a short 2K warmup around 5:40 with a couple of extended strides. Was feeling pretty loose but was sweating quite a bit as it was really humid with dew point around 20. The sun was a little lower in the sky so didn't feel terribly hot.
Started off pretty relaxed settling into a pace just under 4:00/km. Was immediately slotted into 13th place but had a guy just in front of me that I was able to focus on and luckily he was running a consistent pace. I was going to get water every 3K but was feeling so good at 3K I decided to wait it out. Grabbed my first water at 6K and was still feeling good. At this point I had reeled in 12th place and was just fighiting to stay ahead of him. I felt like I still had a lot to give but was holding off from pushing too hard because of the weather.
Running down to the bridge at TT my shoelace came untied. The shoe still felt snug so I continued running but with a couple hundred meters it was really bothering me as the shoe became more loose. I decided to stop at 7K to tie the shoe. The 7th km was probably a little slower due to worrying about the shoe. The 8th km was slower due to stopping to tie the shoe and then having to do the turnaround. It looks like I came to a complete stop for about 10 seconds. I then tried to accelerate to make up time and chase down the guy who passed me when I stopped. I think this took quite a bit out of me as by 8K I was starting to tire. There was also a bit of a headwind after the turnaround so I really started to fight hard to maintain pace from 8-10K.
I finally caught up to and passed the guy again at 10K and from this point was running alone just chasing down the slower 30K runners. I again decided to skip taking water as I was feeling ok despite tiring. The kms were still going by at a fast enough clip and despite feeling like I was struggling my pace didn't really drop too much. I was definitely working hard but in this weather I think the best I could have done was just not slow down. Picking up the pace in the second half just wasn't going to happen.
At 12.5K I decided to take my last water and I think this was smart as it gave me a bit of a boost that lasted to the end. I started to shiver a bit and my breathing accelerated but muscles were still holding on.The last km involved some cramping but I was able to push through and finish the last 200m strong. I think I could have made more of a push in the last 3kms if I hadn't had to stop to tie my shoelace and knew that I was closer to breaking 1 hour. The course was also about 50m long which caused me to fall behind by a few more seconds. With better weather I believe I definitely could have pushed more from the turnaround and seen my splits drop instead of just maintaining pace.
Disppointing I couldn't break 1 hour but the humidity was challenging and I take solace in the fact that until 7K I was running 4:00 pace pretty relaxed, much more comfortable than a normal tempo.