Notes
Hoping I might run a little faster but defnitely satisfied with this one. It was my 3rd win ever in USTAF Grand Prix series and I hung in there with a group that clearly had more impressive races resumes than me. Splits were: 6:34, 6:43, 6:36, 6:43. 6:37, 6:36, 6:38. 6:32, 6:45, 6:38, 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, 6:40, 6:48, 6:47, 6:47, 6:49, and 4:47 for last .64, Chip time 2:04:33
A guy who wrote a race report on another forum described conditions as: "The asphalt is bumpy, pot-holey, slanted, and just plain uncomfortable (painful at times) to run on during miles ~10-14. Miles ~14-18 pointed us into an irritatingly strong headwind."
I didn't think the roads were THAT bad, but headwinds during the last several miles were tough enough for me to carry my hat in my hand to keep it from blowing off. It felt like I was doing 9-min pace so I was quite happy to see that I managed to keep it at 6:50 or better. Very tough run. One question I asked myself as soon as I finished was, "are you sure you want to go ahead with this marathon plan?" To carry on from another 7.5 miles would have been inconceivable. I am not suffering from overconfidence about sub-3 chances