Today was the last half-marathon in a series that began in late October. I went into the race a bit flat today, and not as focused as usual, but I was motivated to run hard in order to maintain my place in the series standings.
I've been guilty of some long race reports, so I'm going to keep this one under control. Also, it would be easy to make this into a complainfest.
I'm actually very satisfied with my time, despite running 1:30 faster three months ago. Although the temperature was not bad (low-70s), the dewpoint was also pegged at 70 degrees, which is not fun for racing.
As expected, the race went out fast, and I ran my first 3 miles faster than I ever have in a half in order to stay within reach of my guys. Hard to say if this was a mistake or not. After the first miles, I slowed, almost metronomically, for the next 4 miles or so, until I cratered in the low 5:50s.
Luckily for me, a similar scenario was playing out for everyone else as well. This race has long straightaways and it's easy to see where your competition is, so I knew I was about a minute behind the guy most likely to pass me in the standings.
In the last 5k I was able to gather myself for the final push. I finished plenty back, but held my spot in the standings by 13 seconds. Perhaps a hollow victory, since I finished well behind 3rd and 4th in the series, but I'll take it.
If this sounds a bit negative, I wish it didn't- I was very happy with my time and focus. It was simply the experience of running this race that was deeply unpleasant. Probably in a couple days I'll be talking up how awesome it was.
Splits:
- 5:29
- 5:35
- 5:34
- 5:39
- 5:44
- 5:49
- 5:53
- 5:48
- 5:50
- 5:56
- 5:44
- 5:46
- 5:38
.1 ~5:25 pace
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