Notes
Woke up late—alarm didn't go off—at 7:59am, race started at 8:30am, and I had a 2.5 mile run to get to the start line. So not the usual relaxed warm up. On the plus side, jumped in at the front of the starting line with four minutes to pin on my number, dripping with sweat and adrenaline.
The race started and several people immediately went clear, I settled in to a group of at first two, and then within a mile or so four, with one person ahead of us, and then the leaders. First mile was fast, and I thought I may have nuked myself, but luckily the pace of my group settled down, and I just sat at the back all down past the panhandle, and half way up the other side. At that point two guys started to pull away, I tried to stay with them, and managed it for a while, but the pace was too much for me, and I dropped back, and then was caught again by the other of the original four coming down the far side of the Conservatory Drive hill, where I was struggling. But I managed to stick to that guy down JFK, and around Stow Lake, where we were both passed by someone else. I got dropped a bit going down MLK to the turnaround, but put on a spurt coming back up the hill to get back, but then was dropped again as I recovered. So in the last .3 miles I was running behind the other three from the original group of four, but not massively so, and I could hear someone else coming up from behind, so tried to kick it in.
As I came around the last corner and the clock was saying 36:50 or so, and just made it across the first timing mat under the finish banner before 37:00, without being passed again. My watch said 36:59.47, which I started at the gun, not when I crossed the first mat. The results posted afterwards had me at 37:00 exactly, for both chip and gun time (dammit)
Whatever, I'm going to claim sub-37, if only marginally. Either way it's a 25s PR two weeks after the last one, and the first time my overall pace has started 5:xx, so a great result. Despite the fast first mile, I don't think a better pacing strategy would have made a significant difference.