Notes
Race started with the high school xc team going fast. As the pace settled, I spotted the guys who looked comfortable I got behind them. 1st mile was uneasy and unsure of pace and personal effort. After turnaround I got to the front and started feeling good enough that I almost took off myself. Instead, Drew was apparently slowly increasing the pace while I just matched him. This small town race had a pretty good field, but we dropped the final guy around the 2 mile mark. At this point, the exitement of racing wore off since I only had my training partner to race. Lost the rest of my motivation when I tried to take a turn only to realize we weren't turning yet. The rest of the run I tried to focus on maintaining my form and getting up on my toes the last stretch. Performed both well, but neither great.
Ended up with a 15:39 to Drew's 15:30. Some others had concerns the course was short but I'm not going to worry about that. It was a solid effort and felt good for not having raced near that pace for over 4 months. Cool down was pretty sporadic but got a few miles in. Time to gear up for All-American, maybe get a few good workouts in.