my makeup may be flaking

56948 finishers: the largest race I've ever been in (beating out last year by about 100)

Due to my stellar 17:33 qualifying time (from last June's Braves 5k) I was a seeded runner meaning that I got to warmup on the course next to the elites. I saw Dart Challenge course record holder/US olympian Jared Ward as well as 4-time olympian Abdi.

It was pretty warm and humid, which is not a good combination for me (Dew point=71). However, I felt decent on my warmup so I figure I would stick to the initial goal of sub 36, which (spoiler alert) I did end up getting.

With so many good runners, it's natural to get out fast but I tried to stay within myself. The first mile was 5:39, which felt very relaxed and I was not breathing hard at all. But after the mile I just started to feel a little off, possibly due to bp lowering. I had wanted to take powerade at every aid station but there was only water which I repeatedly dumped on my head.

Miles 2 and 3 are slighly downhill so I ran 5:29,5:28 despite feeling increasingly terrible. First 5k split was 17:12. After this the course turns uphill and I start to suffer pretty badly. However, unlike last year, it seems like everyone else is suffering just the same. Mile 4 is 6:06. Two more miles at this speed and I won't break 36. Mile 5 is 6:12, despite being easier than mile 4. I'd like to say that I dug deep in the last mile to get under 36 but really the course just got easier. Mile 6 in 5:58, and then a 1:05 for the last .2. Despite the lousy finish, I moved up 7 spots in the second half of the race.

In short, this was a great performance for me and I still feel like there's more in there during better conditions.

1) I was 1:15 faster than laster year.

2) Fastest post mayan apocalypse 10K, even counting aided courses like Des News and short courses like The Layton Classic. It's not even close.

3) My first 5k of the year was a 17:54. I just did 17:59x2