Notes
This was the best race that I have run in six months. The field went out hard from the gun in the very-slightly-downhill first mile. My plan was to tuck into the second chase pack but it never really formed so after ~1000m I was on my own. It stayed that way through the finish. James Leake was very helpfully standing at the mile mark to give me a split (5:39). I was very worried about team points so I gave everything I had to protect my place even though the next person was 30 seconds in front of me at the end. I had a guy on my tail at the turn-around and when I went by James again he said I had a 20 meter lead. I tried to stay as smooth as possible and keep the pedal down all the way to the finish. I tried to kick but I couldn't find much of one. This was essentially a time trial except I didn't care about the time, just about holding the gap open so that no one could catch me.
As it turns out I should have cared about the time because I was only one second off my PR on this course from last year. Last year I went in thinking that I was tired but very fit. This year I went in thinking that I was not fit at all based on recent workouts and races. But I ran the same time. I think this may be a turning point in my season. That or I just peaked, I guess we'll see. But I don't think so, I feel like I have more in me.
We placed 4th in the executive branch category and 6th overall, mostly because our 5th runner had to be a senate-confirmed executive and wasn't very good. But Brent, James, and Joe all had significant improvements over where they have been so far this season. Joe happened to be wearing his GPS and believes the course was accurate (i.e. measured slightly long as it should). On the other hand I finally got Brent to race without a watch and eliminating that distraction allowed him to run 18:55, worth a 19:37 5k or 50 seconds faster than his 5k PR. The mind is a powerful thing.