Notes
This was a tough race. The bridge is one huge hill, and I'm not used to running big hills like that, nor did I train for it. At one point on the bridge, I really wanted to stop and quit. But I stuck to it. Then I got my split at the mile 3 marker. It was definitely wrong (too short) but it told me that my overall time wasn't actually that bad and that I shouldn't quit. At that point I was able to stick to it and gut the rest out on a pretty even pace.
What I learned: I shouldn't quit when it feels tough, because I often have more left than I might think. And my time might be better than I realize. Had I quit, it would have been a shame because my actual performance was good--top 20-30 percent in a number of categories.
So here's one for perseverance.