7AM Race Start:
PRE-RACE: Woke up at about 5:40. Got dressed quickly and checked out of the hotel about 6:15. Fueled up the car at a Marathon gas station and bought an apple danish to scarf down to get some carbs in me. The hotel didn't have breakfast out until 7ish. Lame. Drank a little Gatorade. Wasn't as sore as I thought I would be given yesterday's PR. Maybe this bodes well for my fitness?
RACE: (204 laps of a newly renovated 208m track) - Laps 209-408. Started off in the back of the pack and ran most of the first 13 miles with Stan, whose son runs xc and who has also run some marathons/ultras. We chatted about various articles and books we liked and just clicked off 10 minute miles. I really enjoyed this! I got to chat a little more than yesterday with my friend Jen who was back running what I think was her 78th or 79th marathon. She's a tank! So happy to see her. She gets the most consistent award, running nearly identical times to the second! Also got to chat with Greg Bealieu, whom I remember from last year and is from Ohio. He's an actuary and we chatted a bit. He was telling me about how he scouted out a .5 mile loop from his house and sought out to do 100miles during the summer. It took him 42 hours with rest breaks, sleeping, etc. But a really fun idea I think! Maybe I could do something like this and raise money for Sea Shepherd!
At mile 16, I had to switch shoes. My feet killed. The blue Vibrams wreaked havoc and I ended up with about a dozen blisters. I switched into Altras and had a blast, running like I was on a cloud. Finished strong and saved stuff for the last lap, where I ended up running the 208 meters in :57 seconds! Too bad joke was on me because since Doug wasn't there to count down the laps, I had actually done 205 laps, instead of 204. Doh! Still ran my 4th fastest time EVER! I am getting in shape and loving it! POST-RACE: Said goodbye to Stan, Greg, and Jenn, and then hopped in the car and drove to Buffalo (7 hour drive). Got there around 8:30 after a near death experience running out of gas. Somehow made it to a station on fumes after getting lost on Exit 60 of the NYS thruway. In addition, the automatic replenishment on EZPass wasn't working because of the douche that stole our credit card. I never thought to update the information after that fiasco last week. Got to Buffalo and checked in. Best 38 bucks I ever spent! Hot water, two beds, a/c, wifi, coffee pot, free breakfast in the a.m. TV clicked on but I was too sore and tired to get up and change it so I fell asleep listening to the Oscar/AAs. Kristin Stewart is such an apathetic toolbag! Yesterday: 12th place, 8th in men's division
Today: 17th place, 13th in men's division Total Time: 4:51:54 Total Distance: 26.316 Average Pace: 11:06/mile
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