Notes
Weather: perfect running weather at low-50s with very little wind.
54:35 (27:28, 27:07)
49th Overall and 6th in Division
Happy with my race. My plan was to go out around 5:30 pace or slightly under and then start picking up the pace on the 2nd half. The first mile felt pretty easy at 5:30. I then got into a good rhythm for miles 2-4. At 4 miles I saw the timing clock read 22:30. I knew I had to get going if I wanted to go sub-55. I then started picking up the pace and ran 5:26 for the 5th mile. It was also around this point in the race where I started to feel a stitch developing. Fortunately, the stitch never evolved to a point where it caused me to slow.
The 2nd half of the race is where I started to roll. I clicked off splits between 5:21-5:25. The toughest part of the race was about a mile stretch between 7.7 and 8.5 miles, in which there were a few gradual climbs. However, this was also the part of the race where I started catch and pass a few runners. I felt like I ran really strong on the toughest part of the course. Was actually surprised that I still ran 5:23-24 pace miles 7 and 8. The last couple miles was all about digging deep. The last mile hurt but I knew I'd still run strong to the finish. The 2-mile repeats last weekend was great because it gave me confidence that I could click off low to mid 5:20s and still feel okay.
Overall, I'm very happy with my race and PR. I know that I could run slightly faster because I had a 21 second negative split. However, I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable going out at mid-5:20 pace.
I felt my right plantar fasciitis after the race. It didn't bother me during the race, but once I stopped running the plantar got stiff. I actually was even thinking of not running the cooldown because it hurt. But once I get running, the plantar feels okay. It's only when I'm stationary or walking that I feel the plantar. I'm icing and massaging my right foot. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.