Notes
Well, that went much better. I laid off the big desserts this week and today & yesterday's meals were very simple. I also dropped an antacid on a whim. But to be fair, I don't think I've actually had this stomach issue when the race was after lunch or later. So who knows.
Anyway, the race: Got out in the usual stupid-fast start. There seemed to be a lot more teams than 3 years ago so the race wasn't as controlled by Simpson. Or maybe I just got stuck behind a lot more people as the pace quickly crashed. There was room to pass but the 1st good hill comes quickly and people go crazy up that too (coaches yelling "attack the hill!", smh). I went with the flow on the downhill and came through the mile in 5:40, about 10sec back from 2016.
The 2nd mile consisted of me blowing by the dudes that were now falling apart above 6min pace. I did find 2 teammates that looked to be on a strong pace though and I stuck with them for the 3rd mile. Both the 2nd and 3rd miles were 5:50.
However, I had spent my energy much wiser than last time and picked it up for the last .7 (as opposed to 2016 when I slowed). I passed a few more people and had a good enough kick on the wavy finish.
About a minute slower than 2016 and 22nd place. Nothing special but by far the best race since April. And for the record, the 5k was under 18min.