Sun 8/29 - double, 1:40 incl. 20k road race plus 30 minutes in Walden

AM - Marshfield 20k. In short, I raced toe to toe with the eventual winner for just over 10 miles and then blew up, falling almost a minute back in the last 2 miles. Course was deceptively hard with lots of rolling. The pace fluctuated with the rolls of the course as can be seen below, effort was fairly consistent. With the multi-loop layout I got a preview of the stretch that would later be the 11th mile and I knew after the first time through that bit would decide the race. As it turns out, not in my favor. Felt smooth until the wheels fell off, but also felt like I couldn't go any harder without putting myself into serious difficulty. Quite concerned with the status of the left adductor and iliopsoas, which started to tighten up around 2 miles. It never got to the point where I felt debilitated but upon finishing I could definitely feel it. Familiar routine for the last month since returning from Colorado, thankfully not as severe as it was at Sandown. Still, something's not right with the area and I feel like I'm picking the scab every time I run hard and long on it. Downhills especially problematic, I'm left wondering what I might have done to it on any of the various mountain frolics last month. Very warm temps, downright hot really, which I wasn't really focused on at all since it wasn't at all humid. In hindsight though the heat did take its toll, one more waterstop would have been nice as well. Barely warmed up, the temps made it somewhat irrelevant and I don't think it had much impact on how the race went. Pace was quite slow the first (flat) mile anyway. Cooldown a 20 minute crawl, half-limping half jogging. Again, it was much worse after Sandown but that was pretty awful.

Mile splits:

6:00
5:30
5:53
5:34
5:32
5:50
5:51
5:48
5:35
5:43
5:59 good night Irene
5:43 downhill to flat, perfect for flying but I wasn't capable
2:38 last .4


PM - 30 minutes in Walden. Desperately needed both to cool off and get some pain-free range of motion in my left hip after the race this morning. Used my bike to access the pond from the usual parking spot, which was key as I had no desire to run another step on the aggravated adductor and iliopsoas. Flexibility in the affected areas appears to be a secondary issue to general weakness. Another day without a cloud in the sky, by mid-afternoon the sun had become quite oppressive.