Sat 10/4 - 1:40 total incl. Applefest half in 1:13:22

A modest time given the generally favorable conditions--cool and breezy--but I was running ftw (as the kids say) and not for a PR. Given the lingering soreness in my legs and the mysterious tendinitis flareup in the left knee area yesterday, this seemed like the wise move. Also feeling less than spry on the warmup. Unlike last year though, I ran smart, holding a lot back the first half of the race as referenced in this recap. Also unlike last year, I had company for much of the way, as there were four others right there with me until 8 miles or so. I did more of the work up front than I would have liked the first 3 miles, gave up the lead soon after by slowing down and found myself back in the front by 10k or so. Nerve-wracking at times as the others seemed relaxed at the pace we were going the first half, to the point of people chatting with one another. I had visions early on of having to kick the last km with 2 or 3 of them, but stuck to the conservative race plan and saved myself for the hills later on.

Mile splits were as follows:

5:26
5:52
5:31
5:29
5:40 (forced others to lead here, this mile was painfully slow)
5:32
5:33
5:39
5:27
5:49 (biggest elevation gain)
5:37
5:32
5:37

I hit the split button at each mile but stopped looking after mile 6 and ran on feel alone after that, as it was about reacting to the others in the lead pack and winning the race. In that respect, I felt them sag on the smaller hills during the 8th and 9th miles. I made my move on the uphill 10th mile, more accurately I slowed down the least. Tried to deliver the deathblow in mile 11 and while second place was a little closer than I would have liked, the outcome was never in serious doubt after that. Some soreness started to develop in my legs around mile 8 or so, especially right TFL area, but in general felt much better than the way they had felt all week would have indicated. Given that the course profile looks like this I was surprised at how consistent the split numbers were particularly near the end. I was expecting a slow 13th mile given my struggles on the final hill and the fact I was running only fast enough not to be caught at that point, but it ended up being the average pace. In hindsight I certainly could have gone faster, definitely under 1:13, especially with the first 6 miles being so tactical. However, I wasn't running for time.