I wanted to end the year with a good half and I was really optimistic going into this race. I was really shooting for 1:12-1:13 due to the course conditions. It is a hilly course and not that fast. I drove down with Katey and Norah this morning and welcomed the hour time change which gave me an extra hour. I got my packet and then got to the starting line. I knew I would be lucky to be top 10 due to all of the competition. Kyle Perry, Brad Osguthorpe, Seth Pilkington, an Ethiopian and a couple other All-American collegiate runners were looking at me like I was fresh meat. The weather was overcast and the wind started to pick up a bit. I met up with Steve Shepherd and Steve Cuttika once the race started. The wind really picked up and we continued together with the 3 of us taking turns blocking the wind up until mile 4. Steve Shepherd and I took off and were together for about another mile and a half and then he put about 100 meters on me. I looked at my watch and it felt like I was doing sub-5:30 pace but I was barely hitting 6:00 pace. I decided to just run and use today as a $50 training run. The wind was really blowing. It was a true headwind of about 30-40 mph. Absolutely yucky to run in. I kept Steve in sight but with about 2.5 miles to go Steve Cuttika caught up to me and passed me. I was ready to be done by then so I kept the legs moving and finished about a minute and a half behind Steve Shepherd. I was happy to be done but a little irked because I knew I could have stayed with Steve Shepherd. I guess my "lean" body does not slice through the wind. It was a decent run but wish the conditions could have been better. I still have the Footlocker race in 2 weeks. That should officially be my last race of the year.
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