Notes
Good comeback race and gives me a gauge of fitness level. With the heat/humidity I probably would have been happy with anything under 8:30 pace, but the course was pretty shaded and it wasn't too bad... I went in pretty hydrated and drank half and dumped half on my head at aid stops. I turned off the HR fields on the Garmin so they wouldn't distract me during the race and just looked at mile splits (skipping some of the uphill miles). Seeing the 8:09 first mile I took about 15 seconds off for the uphill and was worried I went out too fast. When I was still with the 1:45 pace group at mile 5 I felt more confident that I was heading for sub 1:50 - though I knew with the upcoming hills I would not stay at 8:00 miles. Had looked at the elevation charts so kept it easy 6-8 and steady through the long uphill at mile 10. The downhill miles 11-12 were more maintaining effort than really racing and no real kick - I probably could have squeezed out a 1:47 something but happy enough given how out of shape I was 5 months ago.