Notes
Dan Huston Invitational in waverly Iowa. Race went well but should have played it smarter in retrospect. Splits were:
5:17
10:48 (5:31)
16:15 (5:27)
21:55 (5:40)
27:08 (5:13)
Started out pretty relaxed. Was really confused because shaddy wasn't with me from the gun. The first mile was relatively solo, making some poor lines. Gogs joined me in the later portion of the first mile. Second mile was weird because I was being pushed by gogs but wasn't sure where I was at compared to the pace. Dropped goggles in the later portion of the second mile. Hearing that I was over pace for the second mile I picked up the pace. Third mile was a slog making moves and bettering my position. Shaddy and Hebior passed me right after mile 3 and I should've gone with them but I let them go. After mile 4 I moved back up on them and caught Adam with 100 out. He heard me though and gapped me again before the finish. Should've closed harder and broke 27 but nothing I can do about that now.
Retrospect I've never raced at this level for a full 8k before so can't be too disappointed with it. Some ways I should look to improve going into the next races include: working on being content running in the pack early on to stay closer to the tangents (as opposed to running the turns wide and make moves at that point), work with teammates (Adam, Chief, and I were too close at the finish to spend the whole race 20 meters apart, also discuss working as a team with Hebior as opposed to have him racing us as if we were on another team), Third thing I need to do is to better define where I am going to bump up into my final gear (I had too much in the tank at the end due to not wanting to go all out too soon on the long home stretch). Looking forward to 3 more big weeks of training and then going at it again in Iowa city.