Notes
Ran first few miles with Rob and another very accomplished masters runner. Even as they left me behind, I kept the pace quick (for me) through mile 5. I figured I would fade hard after that, but more of a gentle, temporary fade from about miles 7-10, which was the first big loop with the big hill. Rain and wind picked up during that stretch. I tried to run by effort after that, and it seemed to work. My last few miles felt pretty strong and the finish was strong.
I ran it a little faster last year. However, at this point last year, I had 10+ weeks of high mileage marathon training under my belt and was ready to start tapering. This year, I’ve only had 4 weeks of solid training, really still just building up mileage.