It was a great race today. The race was at 5pm this evening along the Delaware River canal towpath. the course was very scenic and although the path was only about 6 feet wide, there were only 115 runners that were sent off in 4 waves so it wasn't an issue. i was in the first wave of 25 runners. 3 guys jumped ahead at the start. i stayed with them for a tenth of a mile but realized quickly that they were much faster than me. i slowed my pace closer to my goal pace of 6:50 per mile. a guy passed me about a quarter of a mile into the race. i tucked behind him and drafted until the end of the first mile. noticing he was struggling to hold the pace, i went by him and was by myself for the rest of the race. My splits were as follows: 6:45, 6:45, 6:41, 6:49, 6:49, 6:53, 6:55, 7:01, 7:09, 6:52 pace (for last 0.3). Overall avg pace was 6:52, just over my goal pace of 6:50. First place was about 8 minutes ahead of me and second and third were about 3 minutes ahead. i had about 30 seconds on the fifth place guy. I was very happy with my race strategy and pace especially considering this came at the end of my training week without a day off before the race like i normally do. my training is right where i want it to be about a month before the philly half. | 