I arrived at the race and chatted with friends and got game plan worked out, which was to start off slower and see how I felt after mile 2, if I felt good I would start to push. Plan came together well and after mile 2 I started to push the pace. The course was very hilly with around 1125ft of climbing overall. I started near the back and kept moving up jumping from group to group until I finally reached a group I could not shake. Some of the hills were long an really made me push mentally. It was intense at times. I did what I could and ended up finishing around 52 minutes, overall heart rate of 164 and pace was right at an 8:30 min/mil, which I am happy about just coming back from a year long injury.
Hung out afterwards with friends and fellow runners an really enjoyed the fellowship. Overall, I am feeling stronger and hope to continue to run injury free. As an added bonus, luck played out into my favor and I placed 3rd in my age group and got a pretty cool medal. It was a great event and I had a blast. (pictured: Brooks Launch used today, great shoe)
