Notes
Only 3 teams here, plenty of room to move, but I still needed to force myself to get going to the front on the uphill start. I settled around 10th. It quickly became obvious the Simpson guys were trying to run together, so I didn't need to worry about anyone breaking away for a bit. I slowly crept my way up during the mile. A group of 7 of us hit the mile in 5:15 (maybe short as it didn't feel that fast), but a Simpson kid literally said 'WTF' and another made it clear that wasn't the plan; so 3 kids dropped off right away.
That left me with Sutton leading and 2 Simpson. The 2nd loop was slower and the big hill wasn't as fun, but didn't feel bad overall. Still, after the 2nd mile (5:30), I let the front 2 gradually pull away and run a few seconds ahead for most of the 3rd mile (another 5:30).
At this point, I wasn't quite sure how the course finished the last .7, and I probably let that affect me. I slowed on a rough section and the other Simpson guy (a near All-Conference last year) passed me to leave me in 4th. He ended up kicking well and almost caught Sutton who was 11sec ahead of me.
Uh, 6k PR I guess (never really raced one before). Good prep for All-American, ready to PR again!?