Notes
Great race. Had no idea what to expect. Good start. Pacing in a large chase- pack with Newbould (about 10-15 guys) for the first two miles. A few people took off for the lead pack after the mile (5:00-5:15?) but I'm glad I stayed out. Felt awesome for the first three miles, then just a slow fade and hold to the finish. Didn't move a lot after a couple small downhills near mile two (10:20-10:25?) and just worked to hang on to the first few runners of what remained of the second pack. Leaders looked to be strung out and dropping guys. Slight hill up after mile three (15:30ish) then the 5k split (16:00 dead on according to clock/chip). Just felt like I was grinding it out over the next mile. Nothing terrible, just the kind of struggle I should expect when trying to run 5:10 pace when my legs just don't recall what that feels like. I think the hill training has really helped with strength and surprisingly speed too. Still a little strange clipping off 2-2:30 from my hard hill treadmill paces. Had a few mini battles over this stretch, trying to psych myself up for the final uphill, then long downhill I expected for the final 800-1k... Then I saw Dave K. and Spinney and realized we were half a mile or less from the finish. We didn't have to go up the hill I went over during our warmup/uptempo... Good news. Felt like it was time to go for it and started to pull away from a pack of two or three other guys, trying to catch the one or two left writhing kicking distance. Pulled up to a western mass runner down the short hill before the sharp turn. Got passed as we flattened by another so I guess the pace evened out, cause I held on from there to the finish. Surprised to see I had made my way up to 14th overall. Pleased with the results.
Rough team finish. 6th/16. Not that we did poorly at all. VERY competitive Grand Prix race. Lots of fast dudes up front. We had a good strong pack, but no chance to place in the top three teams without any runners in the top 3-5 individual places, and over a minute ahead of me and Brandon. Great to see the team and mix it up with some tough runners as always.
Had to hurray back for Andrew's final micro soccer game and then an amazing Father's Day afternoon. Drove up to the beach in Maine (York) with a stop at Portsmouth to fill my growler and grab a couple of Black Cat Stout Bombers. Met up with Nicole's parents and got some lobster rolls and clams to eat on the beach. Spent the next four hours playing with the boys in the ocean and around the "crabbin" rocks. Ate a whoopie pie the size of my head on the drive home...