Coming into the race I wasn't sure how I'd do. Although my training indicated I was in good shape, I'd gotton an injury playing soccer that week, either cracked or bruised my ribs, and had a hard time breathing deeply. Fortunately, my ribs gave me little trouble throughout the race.
My first mile was 5:08. I felt it was a little fast, but to slow down would leave me in no man's land. So I resolved to hang on with the pack I was with.
The next mile was 5:15. So far, I was enjoying the speed and the scenery. This mile was what I felt like was a good pace. Unfortunately, it was not to last. After mile two, I think the pack I was with started to disintegrate. I went with the faster half, fearing that if I did not, I'd end up running slower than my target pace.
I ran 5:10 for the next mile. I felt this was on the fast end of things, but again was afraid of running too slow. The next mile was 5:13, and I still felt pretty good. This was not to last.
The next two miles were in 5:05. The remainder of the pack disintegrated at that point. I made the mistake of again going with the faster half. I hit six miles in 30:56. And then completely fell apart. My next mile was in 5:18, then about 5:30, then ~ 5:40, 5:50. 6:10, and ~5:25 for the last mile. 1:10:42 in total. I was pretty miserable and despondent in those last six miles. This blow-up reminds me of the first time I ran Pheonix, though that one was a lot more dramatic.
So no drivers lisence. A lesson learned. And a 10K PR as a split :).
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