Chieftain Spring Runoff today. I missed it last year cuz the weather was bad, but had done it the previous two years. It's a fun a race, and pueblo is a cool town. Goal was sub 1:00, but felt off from the gun, so just focused on finishing strong. Normal 2 mile warmup and prerace routine, weather was already in upper 50s maybe even 60s by the start - felt nice. A little windy though, in the face on the way out, at the back coming home. First mile was 5:58, then 6:03, 6:11, 6:07, 6:09, 30:28 at the 5 miles, 6:06 avg pace, got all alone after 5, and was running uphillish and into the wind so was starting to slow, hit 6:36 and 6:31, then turned around and regained momentum, took a Roctane at about 10k, seemed to help too 6:14 for mile 8, 6:29 for 9 and 5:45 for the final mile. I don't really trust any of the splits on the back half, down by the river on the trail, I think my watch GPS cut in and out, regardless, I came back in 31:36, about 6:19 pace, I was really happy with the surges I threw in though - after things went south at mile 6, I could have thrown in the towel, but I kept fighting and ran a really strong final mile, 1:02:04, 6:12 avg pace. Actually not a terrible result for me at this race. The first year I ran it in 1:01:5X, and the next was 1:02:3X i think, so I split those results today. Given how tough it felt, I'll take it! Two things to consider - first, I think i was a little overcooked from last week's high mileage - long run only last saturday and a 7=mile tempo last tuesday, so legs aren't bouncing back like they used to. I also had some breathing issues - maybe allergies, as i've been struggling this week as they are coming in, but perhaps something to talk to a DR about. Cooled down with 2.7, 15.2 on the day. Overall, I'll take the result in stride as "all things considered, not bad, could have been worse"
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