Notes
This was a tough day for me. I have never felt this tired going into a race and I felt crummy. I hadn't slept well for many days and I was just exhausted. It didn't help any that we got out to the dam in pouring rain and and it just rained and rained. The race had to be delayed for a half hour so we sat out there even longer with no cover (we did go under a starter's table for a few minutes but we were already drenched). It was miserable. It was extremely windy (15 mph and higher gusts) and humid.
We finally started around 7:30 and as soon as we did, it hailed for about three minutes. We spent the first half mile trying to stay upright as it hurt and it was right in our faces as it was against the wind. Mile 1 was ok and mile two was downhill but it felt like I was running a sub-5 pace. I just felt crappy. After that, it was just a struggle. I tried pushing on but I never had it. I didn't have the turnover and I just wanted to finish. The conditions were tough as the wind was either a head wind or a cross wind and it was humid. Finally, the sun came out for the last few miles. It was just a tough day for me but I fought. It was a bad time and a bad race for me but I finished it and it was a PR since it was my only 20K.
I slept really well that night though....finally.