Notes
I got out fine with Dirk and Drew but got stuck behind a large group in the trees. None of us wanted to get out fast anyway so we were a bit too complacent in the first mile. Dirk was the first to start moving, and then I took a stronger downhill to bring us to the mile in just under 5:50 (got to be the slowest first mile in a while).
Drew was the next to go, followed by Dirk in the prairie. I was still wanting to make it through 2 miles feeling good, though I still picked it up to hit 2 miles in under 11:30.
Mile 3 was similar to mile 2 as I was very consistently paced (not that it always felt that way, and I was certainly getting more tired). I did hitch my wagon to another runner who was also passing people and that helped. I was also slowly catching up to Drew and even spotted Dirk and Canton up ahead. 3rd mile was mid 5:30's.
I wasn't too motivated just after the mile marker, but once we approached the final hill, I started getting excited as it was definitely the best I've felt at this point of All-American in many years. Nevertheless, I still couldn't muster much speed going up and actually got passed... But my good feeling remained, it just took me until past the hill to start rolling. I quickly passed 5 people, passed dirk and then another 5 or so people including Canton. I made the final turn feeling pretty good with myself and just marked a Loras guy for the whole stretch. It wasn't until Canton came up on my shoulder that I reluctantly hit top speed for the final 30m to fend him off.
So my slowest time since being in college is not ever what you hope for, but at least it's not too far off. A week of trails and it being my first race in months are certainly the first excuses that come to mind. Still, it was a much more comfortable race than last year as I got out slower and finished faster (not that I was in great shape last year).
Sad to realize this next weekend is my only option to race again before the Army 10 Miler as I'll be spending 2 weekends in very small towns after that.