Warmed up .9 miles with a 1:00 acceleration. Went out a lot harder than in past years, so with the down/up out-and-back course, I knew it would be a positive split. Went through 1 mile in 6:29, passed 2 more people in the first part of the 2nd mile, then stayed in the same place the entire way back. Think I red-lined going up and through Highseas, so had to back off the first big uphill. Mile 2 was 6:53, and it was time to hang on for dear life up the rest of the hills. 3rd mile was 7:19. I slowly caught up to two other runners but didn't have the mental fortitude to push past them and finished 4 and 8 seconds behind them respectively. Then again, the last .13 was at 6:02 pace per Garmin, so I did try, just a little too late. Happy with this, as it's my first sub-7 pace race in years.
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