Notes
This was a much better race today than I expected to run. I had a tough week of work with 44+ hours and the emotional toll of multiple COVID deaths and I really was tired. I actually woke up feeling a little better than I expected on Sunday morning so I thought that was a good sign. It wasn't as warm as I thought it might be either so I had a few good things going for me. I was really worried about my hamstring as it has felt terrible for a while. I think it was the shoes that I was fitted in as things just seemed to get worse over the last few months. As a result, I switched back to my previous shoes that only had 170 miles on them before the weekend and I tried them out on Saturday. They felt good so I thought I would give it a shot because I thought the other ones weren't working.
I felt ok warming up and even did a few strides that didn't feel terrible. The first two miles were a lot more under control than I usually run them but the sharp down hill hurt a little more when the pace increased. I was surprised at how I felt though mile 3 and then ran mile 4 well. It was a hill around 4.5 miles where I really started to feel the pain but it didn't affect me too much until I climbed the St. Thomas hill. It was that hill where I tweaked it a bit more and the next two miles of climbing weren't too fun. I backed off a little because of this but was pleased to see I was very consistent with two 6:51 miles. Once I hit mile 7 at the top of the course, I knew I would be on course for the sub 70 at that time. Considering the goal was 67-70 minutes for today, this made me feel good. I was able to keep the pace down for the next two miles (although it was hurting) and once I hit the last mile, I was pleasantly surprised with where I was at. I was able to pick things up a little bit and I was happy to see me finish with my fastest mile. I know this could have been faster but there was a point when I tried to kick it a little more and wasn't able to as my hamstring wouldn't really let me. Oh well. I still came in under 67 minutes which was really great. I was not expecting to do that and I'll take it.
I needed this today. The last year and a half have been so tough and my running has been so poor. I was not expecting to be in this shape. I'm not happy that I'm only in 6:40 shape but I can use it as a good base because it actually gave me some confidence. I have not felt well about my running in a while and I was happy with how today turned out. I just need to get healthy and find a good goal race.