Notes
I got out in 3rd behind the 2 Luther guys seeded ahead of me. The first lap wasn't very quick (little under 39). I went over my first hurdle since last year on lap 2 (with the men going first and the 55 hurdles right beforehand, I didn't have any hurdles to easily go over). It felt terrible and I lost a few meters on both the leaders. After that happened again, I lost the desire to keep up with the lead (I wasn't feeling terribly good between barriers either).
So I just settled into my own rhythm and gradually got better at hurdling. I wasn't breathing great as it seemed difficult to get full breaths, which I think was more from being sick than my recent stomach issues). At times, I thought I had the legs to make a move, but the breathing and effort made me second-guess.
Somewhat surprising, I ran very consistently as every one of my laps was within 1sec until the kick. I picked it up slightly for the final lap (36). Maybe not surprising, I was a half-second faster than last year (therefore my fastest steeple since 2014). All good stuff, I was just hoping for a faster and a more competitive race. However, my health was against me and I think I need to do more hurdles if I want to be more confident in this race each year.