This race could be described as a complete disaster, but it ended up being ok, all things considered. In short, Adam W. and I started the race two minutes late, at the very very very back of the pack--in dead last place. We were still taking off our warm-up gear when the race started, two or three minutes before the projected "7 toi 7:30 am" start. It took forever to weave through the bodies to get to a point where, after about 2 miles, we could run comfortably. Even though the first two miles have loads of downhill, my splits were hovering around 6 minutes, a testament to how much slow running I was doing. It was frustrating at first, knowing that my hopes for a strong finish were pretty much up in smoke, so I concentrated on changing my attitude about the race., I decided just to run hard and make up as much ground as possible, but not kill myself trying to do it. After making this mental adjustment, the race when much better. I saw where all the leaders were at on the Bridal Veil turnaround and it looked hopeless that I would catch anyone in the top 10. But I kept up the pace, tracked down a few runners, and ended up finishing 7th overall. My actual time was 1:15:20 (having started my watch at the exit from the Vivian Park parking lot) for 13.22 (on my watch). My official time was 1:17:20. I felt fresh at the end and I feel like I could have run sub 1:14 today, if I had bothered to line up at the starting line on time! The upshot is that I that my legs aren't trashed and I get to try again at Hobble Creek in a couple of weeks. Live and learn!! Another upshot is that I enjoyed hanging out with Adam, who treated me to a trash-bin ice bath after the run. Much better than the tub. Ahhhh . . . ice bath. | 