Notes
2 hours after steepling with 5 or 6 miles in between, but I felt quite good oddly. I think the miles were easy enough to just keep me warm and the hurdles today weren't as wearing as the past few years when I had worse form and was jumping harder.
With many runners on the starting line, I decided to get out hard with 3 strong steps. From there I made sure that Ibex and Taz (which added a few others as well) got ahead of me before settling on the rail. The leader wasn't going too fast and I went with the lead group for 2 laps before dropping off. Several people passed me here (some who should have, others who shouldn't). I had a small group with me that I gradually became the caboose of right behind Falco. He was the one to convince me to stick with this pack.
I heard splits much better in this race (pretty even, 77's for a 5:09 mile) as I just hung behind as Falco and Ryu had their own small battle. After the mile I started feeling better and it became less of a struggle to hang out. With 4 laps to go or so I passed Falco and quickly Ziggy. Falco didn't quite stick with me but hopefully it motivated him some as well. I had another strong finish for 9:38 and 3 points as 2nd Alumni (10 points for the day baby!).
Another time I was fairly happy with and much better than last year, but again, worse than the previous years before last. The best news is I felt comfortable in my spikes, the increase in pace, and finished well each race.