Canyonlands Half Marathon. Took 9th overall with a time of 1:18:17. Very strong headwinds through the entire race, probably slowed pace down at least 10 sec/mile, more in some areas. Mile splits were 5:33, 5:41, 5:55, 5:56, 5:47, 5:51, 5:54, 5:53, 5:46, 5:56, 6:15, 7:30, 5:50. I got out fast, but realized after two miles that I wasn't "on" today. The headwind had some to do with that, but it mostly physical. I regrouped and slowed my pace to around 5:45-5:55 and held that strong through Mile 10, putting me on pace for a low 1:16 (which is a decent time for me at Moab). Miles 11 and 12 I came out of the canyon and the headwind doubled going into town. This section cost me about a minute from my race, as the combined wind + mental breakdown slowed my pace to 6:15 and 7:30 for those two respective miles. 7:30!! What is that?! Mile 13 I finally turned out of the dust storm and picked it back up to 5:50, indicating to me that the breakdown on Miles 11 and 12 were more mental than physical. In retrospect, my biggest mistake in that race was letting myself get all alone for essentially the entire race. I ran with Chris Rogers for a couple miles early on, but then let him go. Chris stayed about 15 seconds ahead of me for nearly the entire race (until Mile 12). Neal Gassman passed me around Mile 5, and I had the chance to to go with him and surge back up to Chris, but I passed on that, a decision I now regret. Had Chris and I ran together and traded leads, I'm sure we both would have run at least a minute faster in the wind. Oh well, live and learn! | 