Notes
96% humidity
Houghton's Pond 10K trail race. Weather cleared up nicely this morning and it was reasonably pleasant running conditions despite yesterday's rain. Pre-race prep was not ideal for this race. I had been looking forward to getting in a good race. However, after pick-up ball, mild quad contusion, a little wine tasting courtesy of the Chus, and then ate breakfast too close to the start time this morning. Felt reasonably well rested this morning, but not really motivated to race. I picked up my number and rushed to the start line without a warm-up. First mile felt comfortable, and then I eased off a bit midway through the first climb, which turned out to be the longest on the course. A group of 4 took off in a pack in front of me, and then I was quickly passed within the first mile by 3 other runners. After the first mile, started to feel very uncomfortable, like breakfast wasn't sitting well and legs didn't feel great. Eased back a bit on the 2nd mile and even walked a bit on a longer hill. Somewhere after mile 3, I started to feel better and eased into a nice rhythm. After the first two miles, I decided based on my effort level and how I felt that I was better off making this a tempo effort. After that, I tried to enjoy the scenery and possibly make up some ground on the two runners in front of me. It turned out to be a solo effort the rest of the way. There had been a runner behind me that was gaining ground, but I lost sight of him somewhere between mile 3-4. It was a good effort considering the conditions and the course was not terribly technical or hilly. HR was right around MP effort, so a race effort probably would have been closer to a 6:30 pace on this course.
118 cpm
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3227277