Pre-race meal- Had a banana with almond butter and about 20 oz of water before leaving and an egg with a little water about 45 min before the race started. Had half a 5 hr energy right before starting.
The race started right on time and so did the rain. A drizzle was going about 10 minutes before the start and it steadily increased to a full on rain as the race started. The wind had died down but it wasn't completely gone. The rain didn't last long and having an overcast sky was actually beneficial. I forgot my watch so I was running by feel for this race. I was being pretty conservative because I'm so used to relying on my watch but I still felt like I was going at a pace that was pushing it hard enough. Stayed steady up to the half way point and picked it just a little. Took a gel at mile 8 and the other half of the 5 hr energy at mile 10. I had felt pretty good the whole time so the plan was to run as hard as I could for the last 5k. During the last 5k I was feeling a little too good and kicked myself for not pushing harder throughout. All I knew was that I was somewhere between the 1:40 pacer and the 1:50 pacer but other than that I really didn't know what pace I was running. Any hoo, I finished strong and made a 4 minute improvement from a course that was similar from last fall. I'm happy with that and glad to have an idea of where I'm at for the upcoming season.
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