Notes
What a good race, made sure to get to the front of the line for the start so I didn't have to dodge and weave through slower traffic. Gun went off and away we went. I felt by mile 3-4 that sub 90 was a bit of reach, I pushing along at closer to 7:00 where I would have needed sub 6:53 for a sub 90. Though I had some fast first miles I knew I couldn't hold it for the duration, just to fast. Took a shock block around mile 3. Around mid 5m or so we started to climb and it didn't let up till the summit when we came down the back side just before mile 10. It was a tough hill, no joke. I was thankful for a girl named Dani. We started off together from the line and baseballed back and forth a bit in the first few miles, then I pulled away a bit but she caught me on this hill. I hung with her as we worked together up the hill, we where equal pace so it was good for the both of us to help the other along. Had a gu at 6m and though the down hill should have been a relief after the climb it was rather uncomfortable flying along at 6:30 or less with aching quads and legs. We hung together till 12 where I had just a slightly harder last mile kick to the finish. Turns out she was 2 OA female. Not her best run, she has a 87m PR but we had a good time.
I think I am relieved a bit about the hill that slowed me down. I PR'd still by just over a minute and had a 7:04 OA pace. If the hill wasn't there, I would have been faster but not fast enough to go sub 90 and then I would have missed by just a bit. With 5m at 7:30 pace, if they where closer to 7:00 that is 2:30 off my time. That puts me 10-15 seconds off. I would have PISSED to miss by anything less then a minute. This way, I am happy about a strong race and a good PR but still far enough off of sub 90 to not really worry about.
What is interesting is this race predict me at a 3:16 marathon. Not sure I am ready for that yet but a good low 3:20's would be nice.
(2500) +44.7
(3000) -14.8