Notes
SOOOOOO WINDY...
Really strange race. Late last week they had to alter the course, so it was now 2 inner loops and 2 outer loops.
At the start it looked like there was a solid 10 runners who were going to give it a go. At the start a pack went out quickly, I really wanted to practice going out controlled so I let them go (may have ended up being a mistake). Went through the first mile in 6:02 which felt like walking, second mile in 6:07. Then we hit the wind. The inner loops got it for about a half mile: 6:14. I got out of the wind and settled right back in to something close 6 plus/minus 5. Second inner loop - same deal.
The outer loop was tougher, there were a couple of quicker miles (again right around 6 a few below), then a large hill which seemed to cost me about 20 seconds. After that it's back to the wind, but the outer loop had it for a mile +. Where I was right around 6 when somewhat sheltered, my split jumped to 6:30 in the wind, despite ramping up the effort. It was nuts. Second loop, same deal.
The mistake I made early on, was that I should have gone with the group. They went out fast, too fast for a bunch of guys, but I never really closed it. Kevin Delany was 30 seconds up on me most of the way, and another runner a few seconds ahead of him. Had we been able to pack up and share the work, it would have made a huge difference. But going it alone in the wind was impossible.
Feel pretty strongly that this was a 1:19 effort. Still not what I was shooting for, but would have felt better with that time.