Notes
Ooof. That was rough. Constant turns and undulations. Plan was to take it easy till top of first big hill and then settle into the race but I chased the lead group and it was tough as hell and took a while to settle in. Eventually things settled down and I was able to grind it out with endurance. Passed sixth place at mile 6.5. I had noted a few moments of fatigue and figured I had better go ahead of him. At about mile 8 I passed the fifth place guy and worked to hold position from there. I couldn't see fourth place. It was lots of work to keep the momentum up from then on. All the turns really took it's toll on my feet and ankles. Parts of the race I couldn't run faster if it were in a 5K.
The finish caught me by surprise. I've no idea how long the run was. They billed it as a half but my watch said 11.75 yet everyone else had 12.25 to 13. Early on when we were running in a small pack I noted my miles beeped much later than everyone else.
During the race I figured everyone ahead of me looked younger so I was hoping for top master. I should have known better. Despite finishing 5th I was 3rd master. Typical of NE races.
Added two days later:
Holy shit I'm beat up from Sunday's race. Even my fingers are sore. Ankles are sore from all the turns on the single track. No wonder the gps made no sense. Bikes measured it at 13, which kinda makes sense. The wheel is much better than the satellite in the woods and single track.
Raced that half as hard as any race since xc nats. Ran at the edge of reason to hang on to 7th for much of the first half and suffered good for 5th in the second half.