[Fidatelo]

Race recap: started out just misty, which was nice. I got trapped really bad over the first mile, and I used a lot of energy just trying to fight my way out of the slower people around me. Lots of zigs and zags and up on the boulevards, which sucked because they were muddy and slippery. The next several miles went ok although my pace slowed sooner than I had hoped. Nothing too bad though, and after 8 miles I was still pretty happy where things were at.

Things went downhill from there. The mist turned to a downpour for most of the second half. My right leg started to tighten up and by mile 10 I really hit the wall. I was starting to limp/run and basically my left leg did all of the pushing for the last 2 miles. My shorts also became so waterlogged that they were falling down, so I had to repeatedly pull them up as I ran, which was probably more mentally exhausting than anything but very annoying. I managed to fight through and get to the end, and my leg feels fine in the hours since, but it wasn't a super pleasant final 20-30 minutes.

Stats:
1:36:19 official finish (1:34:01 last year)
43:13 6 mile split (39:50 last year)
124th overall (106 last year)
8/195 M35-39 (13/239 last year)

Overall the run was bitter-sweet. My time was indeed slower than the past 2 years, but was not too far off and if I look back 2 months I can say that I made very solid progress. Coming in top 10 for my age/gender category was a nice surprise, but its tempered a bit by the lower turnout this year. Ultimately no injuries and a decent finish, with visible strides made over recent weeks, which adds fuel to make me want to come back stronger for next year. Just need to fight through those winter blahs!