My plan for this race was to get out hard then find a pace to run comfortably hard on the way out for the out and back route. My goal on the way back was drop 5 sec. per mile or atleast increase the effort each mile on the way back in. I managed to accomplish most of the goal for a 35:23 breaking my old record by 2:39 from Feb. this year. I fully expected the competition to be stiff as almost every Madison race is. Most of the competition happened to be in the 5K as I didn't have anyone to run with after the 5K guys turned to go back. Nonetheless, the 5K runners helped me get out to a fast start.
The first mile was slightly downhill and I came through the mile marker in 5:31, about what I envisioned. I was closing in hard on the 5K leader and actually cut him off at the turn because I didn't realize he was running the 5K. The 5K winner went 15:11, so he must have really ran a fast turn in to hit that time if he went out in about 5:27. Anyway, I found a nice pace and started to listen for footsteps. At about mile 2 I did hear some footsteps, so I was kind of excited for the competition! Mile 2 was a 5:41 on the flat and into the wind. I was feeling quite good running all alone at this point, the pace felt like a tempo effort to me. The 3rd mile was a little uphill and really into the wind, plus we had to run on the sidewalk and wind around a small turn-about that I had to slow down on due to some slippery leaves. I hit a split of 5:54 (not what I was hoping for). My competition had closed the gap and was about 5-10 meters behind me, so going up the hill I put in a surge to crest the hill with a little pop in my stride. Mile 4 I got a little downhill and I increased the effort spliting a 5:41. I could still hear footseps ever so slightly, but I could tell I made a little breathing room for the final push. Mile 5 was mostly flat, but I had to dodge 5K walkers, which slowed me down a little, split was 5:45. Mile 6 was mostly uphill and I was still dodging walkers and had a car pull out in front of me and a biker cut me off. I split a 5:48 for mile 6 and missed my .2 because I forgot to stop the watch.
Great effort for me coming off a 99 mile week. I later learned 2nd place was a full minute behind me, so I opened a 1 min. gap on my competition mile 4-6.2. My race strategy was a success!
PM: 4.35 miles @ 8:39 pace
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