Notes
First race of the season. All in all, went fairly well. Got out in 5:41 for the first mile about 5-8 seconds back of second place and 10-12 seconds back of first. Stayed relaxed, stopped worrying about pace, and used the slight tailwind to gradually catch them. Caught second place at 3 miles and waited for the turnaround to pass him (18:01). Caught the leader at 3.5 miles and surprisingly put about 3-4 seconds on him rather quickly. Pretty strong headwinds kept the pace modest, and then just after 4 miles, my right shoe became untied. I felt good, so I decided the earlier I stopped to tie it the better. Both runners passed me but I stayed in striking distance. By 5 miles it was down to me and another guy - neither one of us really wanted to do the work in the cold wind, so we traded leads a couple times. I pulled up alongside him with about 300 meters to go, gauged that he didn't have it, and then started a surprisingly strong kick with about 25 seconds to go. I think my last mile was about 5:52, so not bad given the conditions. My first race victory in about 19 years!