For the 3k, I was hoping some young guns would take it out quick so Kevin and I could click off laps without too much bunching up. Unfortunately, the race went out closer to 41 to 42 seconds that first 200. I quickly moved from back of the train to second place by the end of the 2nd lap, then into first by the 3rd lap. I came through the mile (actually, 1600) in 5:13, with Philip Shaw of Millennium Running right on my heals. He made a very hard move in the 9th lap, splitting probably close to 35 seconds. I thought the move was a little too aggressive, and so I split 38 or 39 seconds and he opened up a gap. Thinking he would settle back into a normal pace, I stayed steady at my increased pace and hoped I would be able to close the gap with 600-800 to go. Instead, he kept his foot on the gas and he put a total of 12 seconds on my by the finish. I was pleased with the race though. I had some bounce in my step finally and ran 9:41, good for second place in my heat. Kevin also ran a solid race, hitting his goal of breaking 10 - though there is a bit more in the tank for him. Maybe take another crack at the GBTC Invite?
There was enough time between the 3k and the mile for me to cool down, then warm back up. I felt pretty good, but I didn't have any expectations. When the gun went off, I went from lane 6, straight to the rail and the back of the pack. The first split was extremely slow, and I thought about moving up but I could feel the pace quicken, and there were no open spots for me to get back on the rail if I made that move. A quarter mile in, though, and I was three seconds behind the leaders. Joe Fischetti was on the back stretch yelling out my splits and he was yelling at me to move up. After the third lap, I could tell the pace was slowing just a bit and the girl just ahead of me chopped her stride a bit - so after coming off the corner I made a hard move on the back stretch and through the turn going from last to 3rd/4th at the halfway - splitting 2:27. Somewhere around this point, Chris Blondin made his move to the front. When he made a hard push that created separation, I moved into 2nd and tried to close the gap. With 400 to go, he was less than 2 seconds ahead of me. He started to really press on the penultimate lap, and though he was barely over 2s ahead of me, it was a pretty sizable gap. While I never caught up to him, I'm pleased with how I closed the gap over the final ~50 meters. I finished in 4:47, with the final quarter in 66 seconds. In an evenly paced race, I think I am a lot closer to 4:40 than I was just a few weeks ago.
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