Notes
A well-executed race under uncertain fitness aided by near-perfect conditions that likely won't reoccur for this race soon.
Fine positioning at the start, but this race is probably worse than most for people lining up poorly (or it could just be because there are soooo many people). I got out cautiously and managed a comfortable 5:45 even with the adrenaline and downhill. I maintained that pace for the 2nd mile as several teammates passed me.
The 3rd mile has another solid downhill. At this point, some groups have established themselves and I was just going with the flow to a naturally faster 5:39. 5k in 17:55. So at this point, I figured I wasn't going to have a stomach/breathing issue and started focusing more on racing based on how my legs feel.
Robert Ashby, a teammate and a stud age-grouper (he would win the 50-55 age group), was with me. And he was one guy I wasn't quite willing to let go too far ahead of me. So him, myself, and another unknown masters runner sort of grouped up and keyed off each other for a few miles. The pace remained around 5:40. Coming up to halfway was a slight hill where the other guy took the lead. I decided to stick with him and left Robert behind. The middle couple miles were rough as I tried to stay within 10m of him. Thankfully this is also where the biggest crowds are and I was rejuvenated. After mile 6, things started to come together. My cadence got faster and smoother and suddenly I was rolling along. Miles 7, 8, and 9 were all close to 5:30, I passed a good amount of people (including the guy I was chasing) and was having a blast.
The final mile started strong, but I think I got complacent and content. So that mile was slightly slower if you don't include the kick. Far from a PR, but my 2nd fastest time and over a minute faster than last year. Thing is, it was my worst placing in any of my 4 years by a solid margin (91st compared to 64th, 73rd, and 58th). Usually, I'm praising my placing despite the less-than-stellar time so this feels odd. Still, I can't help but be happy with the time considering my poor training. No idea if I'll try more races this fall, but this is motivation enough to do some work again. Though it would be nice to see if my achilles issues are behind me as well.