Super Jock 'n' Jill Half in Woodinville, it's a pretty big race for the area and popular. Big crowd out there today. I didn't have the greatest past few days in preparation, but still felt confident about my goals: Definitely under 1:24, my half time earlier this year, possibly sub-1:22 if I felt good, and an outside chance at 1:20 if the stars aligned.
Weather was forecast to be sunny and 70, but it was cloudy and 55 at the start. I thought it would feel cold, but once we were 400m in I warmed up and was very pleasant. Really nice course. Starts at a brewery (though, oddly, no free post-race beer) and the first 3 or so are on a country road. Then you hit urban trails along a river for awhile, well wooded. Then back onto roads at about the halfway point, uphill through a little business park and an old-timey neighborhood and downtown, then a few moderately confusing switchbacks and turnarounds where you see the field repeatedly, then back on the trail to finish. I went out with the second pack, more or less, it was a little strung out by mile 1 but basically all the elites racing out front, a gap, then a string that I was a part of. A lot of teams racing, and I tucked in with what I think was Club Northwest. That set-up pulled me well under pace for the first four, which came back to bite me in the end. I stayed with the group for about four miles, then drifted and spent most of the race on my own. Here's the splits: 5:54, 6:11, 6:02, 6:05, 6:17, 6:23, 6:41, 6:18, 6:26, 6:39, 6:49, 6:52, 6:32, 0:35. The first four, like I said, were too fast. I feared I'd regret it, though I knew that start set me up for a special race if I held on. I didn't. By mile 5 I let the pack go and settled down to a better pace, slowed a bit on the unexpectedly steep hill, then got back into a groove for two miles. But I was pooped by 10, then ran three disappointing miles. I knew that keeping them under 7 would keep me on pace for 1:24, and under 6:30 would make 1:22 realistic. I'm frustrated now that I couldn't keep that pace, but I just had spent too much energy early and that just made me frustrated for being an idiot. I managed to get back on pace for the last mile, but I was getting passed by that point (**Cody should stop reading now, but yes, I got passed by a woman with less than two miles**) and just didn't have it. So I wrapped up the race, met Dale and the finish and we cooled down and talked for awhile. I still met my baseline goal, so I'm not upset by the race, and other than that stretch at the end felt pretty strong. Can't complain too much. Definitely better than being at work.
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