I positioned myself in the front quarter of the field to make sure I didn't have to deal with any walkers or slower people. I was trying to hit a certain pace for today and a possible podium, so I didn't want to be slowed up much near the start.
I started off pretty hard and wasn't sure I could sustain the pace I was doing for the first .25 miles. According to my Garmin I was running a 5:58 pace (at the time) and I was sure I couldn't hold that for the entire race. I began to back the pace down to what was faster than planned but closer to my goal pace. According to Garmin, I had a stretch where I was running 11.4 mph or 5:18 in this first mile. But the first mile was almost entirely down a gradual hill.
The hills weren't anything I haven't learned to deal with for pacing and strategy. I ran the hills the way I have learned to, even pace up and allow my legs to carry me down. This method worked again as it has in previous races this season.
For the last half mile I wanted to run a little faster than I did but I had spread my effort out to much over the race thus far that I couldn't really pick up the pace much. I did have enough left to try to run as fast as I could for the last .10 mile, but I wouldn't be able to call it a sprint. I was too wasted to be able to put that kind of effort out.


I think this was a pretty well executed race for me. I thought a 6:30 pace was a pretty aggressive goal time but I also thought it was achievable. I wouldn't change anything.
With peak speeds of 5:18 and peak HR of 179 I was probably pretty close to the red line for much of this race.

Took a few minutes to catch my wind again and went and took some pictures of some other other runners I knew as they came into the finish.


Training. There isn't anything else. I am as fast as I think I can be right now for the level of training I am willing to put in.


I love this race! I still can't put together why this race appeals to me so much but I will continue to run it as long as I am willing and able.
I would like to see the online posting of the official results a little sooner. As of right now, nothing has been posted yet 8AM Friday morning. I also understand it is a Thanksgiving Day race so I certainly understand not putting a high priority on posting the results.
As big as this race is I would think there would be some type of awards too. I have seen them in the past here (a few years ago) and this year I stuck around to see because I knew I had a shot at an award. I run this race and others for the enjoyment of running and the sport and not for the awards. But I have seen much smaller races have awards.

Results: http://www.veepraces.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/GG-results-Firs...