First time I've run this race, so I was unfamiliar with the course. I'm happy with the last mile split. Overall, I was looking to break the top 20 based on historical results, so I guess I should be satisfied with 17th place. The course was a loop with the first two miles up significantly and then back downhill to the finish. My first mile considering the uphill and crowd at the start was a respectable 6:51. I wanted to start there and pick up the pace, but the legs just felt heavy today. I slowed to near seven minutes for the second mile. Since I wasn't sure about the course, I didn't realize I could afford to push the pace for the third mile and let the downhill carry me in at the end. The third mile was a disappointing seven minutes. My average pace ended up being 6:51, while I was hoping for something closer to 6:35. I think I'm overestimating my fitness for shorter races based on five K times from a flat course. I think I also need more experience racing so that I know how to leave it on the course rather than having some left in the tank at the end.
Good checkpoint in my 10K training though. I guess I need more miles and more race pace miles rather than shorter and faster repeats. Plus I need to be more mentally strong on the uphill and ready to push the pace a bit more on the downhill sections. |