Sat 4/30 - AM 90 minutes incl. 5m road race

Front end of what is surely a bad idea, road whoring at its finest. Looking to secure a money spot with the least possible amount of effort expended. Abundantly clear after 600m that third place would be it. Spent the first two miles establishing a cushion (11:00, not a particularly competitive race) and the next two miles using it up (11:40 or so). Realized I was being stalked at this point and threw in two surges in the last mile to hold the spot which resulted in a final mile just under 5:30. The second surge probably wasn't necessary, and I was mildly ticked that I felt compelled to do it but better safe than sorry. Cool and blustery conditions, the usual situation where it felt like a headwind no matter which direction we were headed. Overall felt quite flat, stayed up too late last night so no surprise there. More of a downer was the way the left hip locked up on the only downhill stretch of any significance on the course. The whole thing felt like crap afterward, esp. TFL, glute, and IT band. Did some serious work with the foam roller which was both painful and worthwhile. Left ankle stiff too, yippee. Very slow cooldown of course.