I woke up to blustering wind and knew right then that the race could be interesting. Making matters worse it appeared to just get windier as we got closer to Saltair. Against my will I proceeded to exit the car, which took some effort, and warmed up a few miles with Kevin. Fortunately the warm up raised my spirits because we didn't have to run directly into the wind. The temperature started to drop as the race was nearing but miraculously the wind was also subsiding a bit. The race started on time and after only a quarter of a mile Jake was pulling away. The first few miles were a huge struggle for me, even though we had a slight tailwind, because my left hip was super tired and sore (probably from my exercises on Thursday), my stride didn't feel smooth and my quads just felt dead. It wasn't until after the turnaround at about mile 6 or 7 that my legs started getting some life in them but by that time it was too little too late. I finished with a couple of decent miles then cooled down 7 with Andrea, Jake, Bill, Kevin, Jossie, and Walter. Overall I have to be somewhat pleased with my time (1 min PR on this course) considering that my legs felt like bricks, my hip sucked and it was windy. Ironically I think the wind was the least significant factor of the 3. This is one of those race experiences that I like to relive in other races when I am feeling crappy. I know if I stick it out through the rough spots things always get better.
Congrats to Jake who made 48 minutes look easy and thanks to Walter for keeping me from falling off my pace completely.
Splits: 5:16,
5:25, 5:21, 5:11, 5:17, 5:40, 5:41, 5:26, 5:17, 1:48
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