Notes
SI Joint was feeling a bit better this morning. Still some DOMs, mostly in adductors and right hip flexor around groin just won't loosen up. Didn't feel the freshest during warm up and knew the race would be brutal with the strong wind, gusts up to 40km/h. The wind wasn't as bad as last evening and wasn't directly in face but still pretty horrible. Plan was to go out fast with wind behind me but it seemed like there wasn't a direct tailwind as I could still feel some cross breeze.
I knew after 500m that this was going to be a tough race as legs just weren't responding. Pace slowed considerably during second km which surprised me as I still figured there should have been some tail wind. The second km did also feature a rise of about 6m over 250m. Was able to maintain pace and even pick it up a bit leading into turnaround as the course went back down to sea level. Turn around was at 2.52 so the course ended up being maybe 30-40m long. Hit the turnaround at around 9:46 which was way slower than I wanted to be at that point.
After turnaround it was a rise back up to 3.5K and I really struggled during this part to maintain pace. Wind wasn't as much of a factor as I expected during this part. Fought really hard trying to keep the first place guy in my sights. Had been in second since the 2K mark and was pretty much running the race solo. Tried taking advantage of the downhill leading into the last km and finished the 4th km strong. The last km was brutal with the wind. Just had to try my hardest not to let pace slip too much below 4:00. Breathing was pretty much every step for the entire last km and it was really hard to maintain form. Still managed to finish the last 200m strong.
Wasn't completely wrecked after the race but I felt like I gave it a really strong effort despite the disappointing time. The 28 seconds slower than the 5K championships can't all be attributed to today's conditions. But with lack of taper + tired legs + maybe a slightly longer course that might explain the lack of performance. Will have to see how my body responds over the next week to see if I can make enough improvement to get back under 19:00 this year.