Official time 2:39:54. 1st half 1:21:40, 2nd half 1:18:14. I am so happy :). It's a 16 minute PR. So very grateful. Here's how it happened..
Even last night I had a hard time saying out loud that my goal for this race was 2:42, that I would be happy breaking 2:45, and that my stretch goal was to break 2:40. Its made me very nervous for a long time. I wasn't sure that I could do it. I got my answer this morning.
The race plan was loose but had 3 essential elements. Run the first 7 conservative, starting out easy. Run the middle strong and smart. If the legs are there after the hill at 19 then set the barn on fire and burn it to the ground. I have trained in this manner for months and basically it just went perfect.
I woke up just before 3am. I ate a good breakfast and then went back to bed until 4:40. This worked very well with the 6:45am start. I usually don't eat much and i think i benefited from it today.
My wife dropped me of at the buses just before 5. When we got to the start I went to use the port o potty and discovered super long lines. But fortunately I was able to enter the elite area based on my projected time. Very cool. I found my training buddies there and took care of all the pre race business. Soon it was time to go.
I ran the first 5k easy, during this time part of my right leg fell asleep along with my right foot. I have had some lower back issues but it had got better over the taper. I was concerned and Dan reassured me that it would be ok (He said smiling, "well there's only 22 miles to go" lol). Right before the Veyo hill it came out of it and I just felt awesome, I knew it was going to be my day and I took off. I ran the rest of the race alone. I ran the hill steady but not reckless. I did the same with the climbs from 9-12 through Dammeron valley. At the half I had recovered well and it was time to cut it loose.
The next 8 clicked off fast, I felt so good. Ran the first 10 in 1:02:25, the second 10 in 59:12.
At 21 I started to feel funny and a bit dizzy so I took a :30 walk to reset. I had forgotten to take my GU! I had a 5oz flask that had 4 GUs mixed with water that I had been sipping on about every 25 minutes since 1:15:00 in. I had missed an interval. I took it just before the aide at 22 and washed it down and was off again.
I knew the last 4 were going to hurt but was prepared in how i would deal with it. I took two more reset walks of :30 and :20 about a mile apart and I'm ok with it. There are improvements that can still be made in future races, i try and learn each time out, but a few seconds to feel better IMO are worth it.
At 25 I was full in the pain locker when Golden Harper saw me and jumped in to help :). He told me there was one more turn and then you're headed to the chute, you got this. He ran with me for a bit. When we ran around that turn the finish line looked so far away. Golden pretty much read my mind and said, don't worry its not as far as it looks, go get it!!
I passed a lot of people that second half of the marathon and 2 more on that last stretch to the chute. With less than a 1/4 mile left I heard Golden yell out, "you're going to have to push to break it!". I put everything I had left in that last stretch and made it. Last 10k in 38:25. Sub 2:40. So happy.
This was a very interesting training cycle. I decided to put out a goal that scared me to death and begin working toward it. It was a long term goal but now i know its attainable :). I will continue to dream big and push forward.
Also, the shorter modified taper worked wonders for me this time.
I am so thankful for such awesome training partners. Fritz won today in 2:21. Scott was 4th in 2:22 (12 minute pr). Matt ran 2:37 (pr). Dan ran 2:45 (pr). And Reed was 2:47 (13 minute pr). We have all pushed each other hard this summer and it will be fun with all of us going to Boston together in the spring. There were many great performances today from friends!
Very grateful for my family and friends and all that they do. Now to enjoy some well earned time off and some fun before firing it up again for Boston :).
6:34, 6:13, 6:12, 6:04, 6:08, 5:51, 5:51, 6:37, 6:31, 6:20, 6:22, 6:13, 5:58, 5:59, 5:39, 5:26, 5:50, 5:51, 6:06, 5:53, 5:36, 6:21, 5:55, 6:16, 6:26, 6:13, .2 @ 5:51 pace
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