1.2 slow warmup w/ Bret, Mike, Trevor, and David up a dirt road that landed us in the middle of the Big Springs 8k trail course that the Cascadia Trail Series puts on in July. Then a couple strides on the starting line.
Race went off and David Taylor was out to the front quick as usual. I was in a pack w/ the 3 Weber alumni through the mile in 5:03... David musta had 5+seconds on us. Shortly after that we passed him and came through 2 and 3 in 5:01 and 5:08.
During the 4th mile, the 3 Weber studs pulled away. I passed in 4:56 and they were probably 5 seconds or so faster. I decided to run my own race and try to PR (1:07:58)...and maybe they would come back to me if they'd gone out too hard. Turns out I was probably the one who went out too hard. I kept the effort up with a PR in mind through 8 miles before I realized it just wasn't gonna be a PR day for me. 5-10 were 5:15, 5:21, 5:11, 5:11, 5:24, 5:16.
At 10 miles, Benjamin was only 5 seconds behind me according to the splits I heard from Sasha. I knew I wouldn't PR, but I still wanted to get under 1:10 and I realized that Benjamin was right on track to do so too and that it was a big goal of his. I didn't want to put the brakes on, but I was waiting for him to catch me so we could take it in together. It was actually a positive motivator for me to keep running fast because I didn't want him to key off me and slow down if I slowed down too much.
When I felt someone come up on me on the uphill with less than a mile to go I thought it was him, but it was Nate! We exchanged encouraging words and he passed me and created a 3-4 second lead. I felt like I was breathing a little harder than him and decided it wasn't worth putting up a fight. In the end, neither of us would win any prize money. Looking back though, it would have been fun to have a close finish! He probably had more in the tank too and just didn't want to embarras me by dominating me at the end :) but I should have tested the waters. Miles 11-13 were 5:18, 5:31, 5:31 and the last .16 was 4:58 pace for a finish time and place of 1:08:54 and 5th.
I'm glad I did this race! It got me back to training again soon after Saint George Marathon. I'm not back to full fitness or form but it was good to get another good effort in this year. Shout out to Trevor Ricks running a great time in his first half marathon (I think!).
P.S. My drop bag never showed up at the finish line. For the first time, I decided to use my Runner's Corner Sojourner's bag, as I've seen other club members do it in the past with no problem. I had my Nike Pegasus trainers, Haunted half long sleeve and gloves, and all my RC warmup gear in there! I had it well labeled and put it in the right bus window so I have to believe that someone stole it. Hopefully I'm wrong and it shows up soon. :(
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