15K race today. I woke up with the same scratchy throat as all week, but decided to go anyway. The course was flat with 5-6 bridges over the river that had short steep inclines. Othwerwise flat. My time was 1:11:36 and I got 2nd in F35-39, which is a rarity that happens when no one faster shows up. I started at 7:39 pace and... got stuck there. For three miles I was running comfortably, and then it started getting harder. I found myself running alone, with a person ahead of me about 150 yards and no one close behind. Mile markers were off, but I think I slowed down to about 7:45 in the middle miles. I felt fatigue in my legs, kind of a heavy legs feeling. It may also be partially mental, I may be losing focus in those middle miles. Or afraid to push the pace as if to not die prematurely. Not sure. I took one gel at mile 7, and it seemed to help. I was able to speed up the last mile and actually had a pretty strong finish. I also recovered fast and now don't feel as worn out as I was last week after my 10K. All that makes me think I could've run faster, maybe 1:11 or slightly under. Here are the splits and HR: 7:39(153), 7:37(167), 9:31(169), 5:40(169), 6:09(168), 9:24(170), 7:46(170), 7:44(169), 7:37(171), 2:06(174). Max HR hit only 178 today. But considering how I felt all week, it's an OK race I guess. A big PR as expected (by 4.5 minutes). I'm going to see my doctor on Friday and do some blood work and check my levels of B-12. I may need an injection (a consequence of losing 12 inches of my small intestine in a surgery 4 years ago). | 