3 weeks out from Indianapolis, so I ran the Denver Rock 'n' Roll half as a tune-up and to see where I'm at. The race went really well. Got my goal of sub-1:10 (1:09:35), and surprisingly placed 3rd overall, good for $300.
Very nice morning, low-50s throughout the race, and no wind. The first few miles were down hill, and it felt easy enough to take it out with the leaders. First 2 miles were 5:07 and 5:04. After that, I decided it would be wise to back off through the hills, so I let the Top 5 go (Aaron Braun, Philip Schneider, Andy Wacker, Chris Siemers, and some Kenyan). Unfortunately, money was only 5 deep. Ran about 5:20 pace the rest of the race.
Wacker started coming back after 3 miles, and I passed him, suprisingly (found out later he had just run the U.S. Half Trail Championships yesterday, so that explains it). Caught Siemers around Mile 4, then started reeling in the Kenyan. Caught the Kenyan around mile 5 or 6 (don't remember), who surged to try to stay with me, but then quickly dropped (I don't think he finished race). Then Siemers goes by me, so I tucked in for a while and then let him go, about 10m ahead of me.
Around Mile 7, I started catching Siemers again, and then got by him. Spent the rest of the race trying to hold him off. Braun and Schneider were well ahead. I was feeling the fast early miles the rest of the way, and was stuck in 5:20-5:25 mode. We had a 180-degree turnaround just after Mile 10, and I saw that Siemers was still less than 10 seconds back, and Andy Wacker was right with him. Bad news. I spent the rest fo the race just trying to hold those two off and secure 3rd. The last mile was all downhill, which probably saved my position. I ended up about 7 seconds ahead of Siemers and 20 seconds ahead of Wacker. Braun was 1:07:15 for the win, which is pretty quick for a hilly loop course at altitude.
Splits: 5:07, 5:04, 5:20, 5:16, 5:18, 5:26, 5:23, 5:10, 5:24, 5:28, 5:24, 5:22, 5:20, 29s.
Funny thing, we were finishing with the 10k runners, and all of a sudden I see someone streaking to my side at a sprint. Since I knew Siemers was close, I went into an all-out sprint as well (worth $100 per spot, after all). Well, it turned out to just be a 10K runner sprinting for no reason, but it did chop about 5 seconds off my time.
Definitely feel good about this race, my best race of the season. I think this counts as a non-downhill-altitude PR. Makes me optimistic for sub-2:20 at Indianapolis.
| 