Notes
Hmmm...what to write. So everything I did was leading up to the race was spot on. I got to bed at 9:30 and slept right until 4:30am despite an epic thunderstorm. I was relaxed this week, slept a bunch, ate well, wasn't stressed out. Going into this race I felt great, and really thought I was primed for a better race than I had. And I think I really did.
My first few miles were solid. I felt confident that I could run 67 if I went out in 5:10 and then moved down from there. There was a gap already between the chase pack and the lead pack by about 1200m in and I was trying to go slower, but kind of knew that I was running sub-5:10. We hit 5:04 and kept rolling from there. Part of it may have been that Aliphine Tuliamuk was right with us and pushing the pace. Somehow we slowed waaay down at mile three. When I got the split I decided to push the pace. And from there I started passing people. My next mile was back on the pace that I wanted to run.
5 miles in and I was rolling. The race turns back south and it's a long slope up. The race had strung out at that point So I was mostly on my own. I could see people ahead and just slowly reeled them in. There was a noticeable head wind at that point and my pace slowed down a bit. But my effort felt consistent. It was kind of strange because I actually felt really strong and really responsive. When I would pass people I would surge. A couple people tried to stay with me and I was able to match their pace and eventually pull ahead.
I'm not really sure why my pace had slowed as I felt strong and didn't feel like I had backed off. Maybe the heat/humidity/wind? It was a little disheartening by mile 10 to be off pace to break 68 (I was hoping today would qualify me for next year as well). I also got passed by Bryant Jensen at 9.5 and a mile later by Charlie Hurt as I entered German Village, which was a bit deflating. When Charlie passed me I determined to stay with him and kep him within a couple of paces. My 11th mile was easily my slowest, but I kept my head with me and really wanted to deal with the pain.
The last 2 miles are pretty tough, with a long uphill, a sharp downhill and then another climb with lots of twists and turns. I surged on the hill and dipped back down to 5:19 and passed someone a couple of runners. Bryant Jensen was still out ahead of me and I tried to pull up to him but really couldn't draw much out of my legs.
I crossed the line feeling mixed about the day. The time was obviously disappointing, but I think if I wasn't aware of the clock I would have given this an A-. I stayed really focus, I managed to more or less lock into a pace (or at least an effort) and maintain throughout. I ran smart and passed people throughout the race. Looking at other people's results it seemed to be a really slow day, so maybe my time was the equivalent of a sub-67 effort.
Splits
5:04
10:06 (5:02)
15:24 (5:18)
20:29 (5:05)
25:21 (5:12)
30:53 (5:12)
36:08 (5:15)
41:25 (5:17)
46:47 (5:22)
52:09 (5:22)
57:38 (5:29)
62:57 (5:19)
68:19 (5:22)
68:55