Cary was amusing. I claimed that I would be happy to produce something sub-5:50 pace. Well, I did just that: 1:16:26 = 5:49.8 pace. That's 2 seconds faster than I was 2 years ago... but 2 years ago wasn't on the heels of 106 miles and had slightly better conditions.
I can say I'm happy with the race, though I'm a little disappointed in how I achieved it. I went out too fast, and didn't come close to a negative split. I'll blame that on some tailwinds after the first few miles, which turned into headwinds during the meat of the race.
The first 2.5 miles were straight into some head winds and I was forced to jockey for positioning to help fight those winds. Hence, the first 3 were a blow out. Then I had mostly down hill, and tail winds from 2.5 through 6.5. Clearly the easiest miles of the race.
After 4 miles, I was all alone for the rest of the race. Even though I wasn't far off the back of Verdo and Jason, that made things significantly more difficult for me as I had to cope with really nasty headwinds and hills in 7, 8, and 10. I eventually lost sight of them after 10, as I held my pace and they pulled the trigger. I eventually picked off 1 runner that they dropped in their move.
We finished 6th, 7th, and 8th places in what was a fairly competitive race.
SO, I am very pleased with my time and how I felt throughout the race. Given the weather/winds, I have to accept how I ran my splits... it was probably an even effort aside from blowing out the first few miles. A few days of taper and I definitely could've gone faster.
Since the race, I'm hanging in there. Still on track for 90 miles this final week, though I'm having to juggle taking Monday off with a couple doubles. I resume speed tonight.
Split Recap:
1- 5:35.3
2- 5:41.1
3- 5:37.1
4- 5:51.6
5- 5:45.3
6- 5:50.8
7- 6:05.2
8- 6:02.1
9- 5:34.4
10- 6:05.2
11- 5:58.9
12- 5:55.7
13- 5:49.7
.1- 0:33.8
Total: 1:16:26
Avg: 5:49.8
I can say I'm happy with the race, though I'm a little disappointed in how I achieved it. I went out too fast, and didn't come close to a negative split. I'll blame that on some tailwinds after the first few miles, which turned into headwinds during the meat of the race.
The first 2.5 miles were straight into some head winds and I was forced to jockey for positioning to help fight those winds. Hence, the first 3 were a blow out. Then I had mostly down hill, and tail winds from 2.5 through 6.5. Clearly the easiest miles of the race.
After 4 miles, I was all alone for the rest of the race. Even though I wasn't far off the back of Verdo and Jason, that made things significantly more difficult for me as I had to cope with really nasty headwinds and hills in 7, 8, and 10. I eventually lost sight of them after 10, as I held my pace and they pulled the trigger. I eventually picked off 1 runner that they dropped in their move.
We finished 6th, 7th, and 8th places in what was a fairly competitive race.
SO, I am very pleased with my time and how I felt throughout the race. Given the weather/winds, I have to accept how I ran my splits... it was probably an even effort aside from blowing out the first few miles. A few days of taper and I definitely could've gone faster.
Since the race, I'm hanging in there. Still on track for 90 miles this final week, though I'm having to juggle taking Monday off with a couple doubles. I resume speed tonight.
Split Recap:
1- 5:35.3
2- 5:41.1
3- 5:37.1
4- 5:51.6
5- 5:45.3
6- 5:50.8
7- 6:05.2
8- 6:02.1
9- 5:34.4
10- 6:05.2
11- 5:58.9
12- 5:55.7
13- 5:49.7
.1- 0:33.8
Total: 1:16:26
Avg: 5:49.8
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