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Notes

Plan entry: Club Nattys babyyyy don't get last

The above might seem like a negative way to anticipate a race but I think it mostly came from a place of feeling like I don't have much to use in a race right now. Probably true.

That said, I felt this was a good effort for me in really rough conditions. Rainy, super muddy, and legs were not feeling especially good at any point but 6:06 pace is faster than this felt FOR SURE. The starting line was suuuper packed and I could feel the field go out fast so I tried to hold back a bit and probably still slowed down after the first half mile or so. Felt like junk for the first 3K or so and then finally felt warmed up. At this point I felt I could actually push and compete and not just survive. Mostly focused on footing for a lot of this because it was so muddy, keeping the effort strong but slightly reserved the first half. Came up on Kyle some time between 5K and 7K, I had passed Dave between 3K and 7K but I don't know when, I just know he was ahead of me for a while. After 5K I started to hold back a bit less and be okay with feeling a little ragged. Around 7K I could see Matt ahead of me and tried to reel him in, and probably even gained on him for a bit but he finished better than I did. I thought I had another 600-800m when I realized I probably had only 300 to go so I think I could have finished a little harder if I had known the course better. Last couple K I wasn't doing much passing, seems like everyone was digging deep and fighting back.

Props to USATF for keeping some great details in the results. I was 512th at 3.5K, 488th at 7.6K, and 483rd at the finish. Splits for those distances were 12:40, 28:38 and 37:51 (duh). Feels good to see that I basically moved up over the course of the race. The mud was definitely not ankle friendly but I think this went about as well as I could have hoped. This time seems slow but 6:06 pace seems faster than I felt so I'm not sure where exactly that leaves me except that I had a great time and am excited to keep getting in better shape and racing more this winter.