Notes
Overcast and really windy morning. Hurricane Joaquin approaching. I told myself that I really needed to get a 1:25 here today if I thought I had a chance at breaking 3 hours at Harrisburg Marathon on November 8.
The first few miles were around 6:35, a bit slower than I wanted to be. I found myself up near the front again (an inaugural race with not a lot of fast runners) and was in third place for like the first 3 miles. I tried drafting off of the two in front so that I didn't get as blasted in the face with the wind gusts. But sometime around mile 4 I and another guy ended up in front. We kind of traded places for the next 3 miles. I had some slight side stitches and was glad I brought a couple of enduralytes. I took 1 at around mile 5.5.
I took the lead by mile 7 but I knew there were at least 3 other runners close behind me. I just tried to maintain about a 6:30 pace. I knew I would need a couple of miles faster than 6:30 to get closer to 1:25 flat, so in the 8th mile I pushed it a bit and got a 6:28, then pushed some more and got a 6:25 for mile 9.
After that I was starting to get tired, but thought I could probably maintain 6:30 for the rest of the race. The only thing was that I kept hearing clapping and cheering not long after I passed an aid station, which meant someone or a group was not too far behind me. I thought I was going to be chased down. I thought that they were sandbagging the first half only to save energy for the second half which had more slight uphills and more wind in the face.
At the turn around at mile 11, I finally got to see how close anyone was to me. There was one guy who was one of the ones in the lead in the first 3 miles who looked really good who seemed to be about a quarter of a mile behind me and looked to be closing and then another of the ones in the lead in the first 3 miles about a third of a mile behind. He didn't look as good.
So, at that point, not wanting to be chased down, I tried to speed up for that 12th mile. I did and then felt a little more comfortable after that (though I couldn't stop worrying that I was going to be chased down). I really tried to hammer out a fast last mile, which I think ended up being my fastest mile in 6:07.
I couldn't believe that I won another race (after the Celtic Classic 5K last week). It is a surreal feeling.