Well, this wasn't too much of a surprise time for me. I think it was a good time considering the injury I had to get over during July and August, and my lack of weekly mileage killed me at mile 24. Furthermore, I've made a resolution to make a change in my life and eat healthy. My diet has gotten progressively worse over the past year, mostly instigated from my heavy traveling during the late winter and spring this year. But enough of that... I knew we were in for an eventful race when it was raining hard at the start. The wind was there, but I was hoping it wouldn't hit head-on too much. After the usual joking with friends around the toilets, I got into the corral with about 10 min to go. I made my way to the front looking for the 2:45 group, and finally saw MichelleL and met AdamRW. We stuck together for the most part through the first half or maybe a little after that. I had a good surge of energy around mile 15 (as usual) and thought I could pull off a serious negative split. So I started following Ken (?) from the blog and this other guy that was wearing some compression thingy on his left calf muscle. Unfortunately, the Ledges area took a lot out of me. After that, I felt ok but I was on my own. At mile 23, I was still feeling pretty good and keeping a good pace. I passed Teresa and the kids, along with our friends John & Nicole and their kids (we stayed with them). As soon as I left them, Adam passed by me and told me that Michelle was now in first place. That gave me some extra energy, and it was funny seeing him rally the crowd for the first-place girl runner coming through. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold on. I was just too exhausted and my endurance wasn't up to where it should be. I started cramping a little in the legs, but really it was just low weekly mileage due to injury that got to me. Michelle came by me right at mile 25, and I did a little cheer, thinking there were no girls behind her. However, just 100 yards later this other girl comes by with some guy pacing her (who wasn't running the race). They were going at a pretty good clip and I knew that they would catch Michelle. I saw the guy just hanging out back at mile 22 off the side of the road, but I didn't know he would jump in and try to pace his runner to take first place. In hindsight, that seems a little lame to me, although I'm not sure what the rules are around it. After that girl passed me, I kept running at a decent pace. I think I stopped 3 times to rub the legs a bit. Every time I got running again, I felt good for about .25 miles, then the wall would hit again. I was glad when I saw the finish. My GPS was about a 1/2 mile off at times, so my mile splits are a little weird. 1. 6:20 - Good pace, although Adam and Michelle's times were faster. 2. 6:33 - It felt solid. Not fast enough to take any wind out of me, but it was still a good effort. 3. 6:10 - Finally got through the initial uphill and we took advantage of the downhill. Still dark. I was still cold. Should have kept my gloves for the first 5 miles. 4. 6:12 - Cruising along. 5. 6:13 - We notice the first place girl in front of us. Adam says don't make a move and make it a race this early, so we hold back. 6. 5:55 - Downhill before Veyo 7. 6:06 - Bottom of Veyo. Michelle stops at the portable with Adam, I keep going knowing that I'll probably have to use the portable at the top of Veyo. 8. 7:24 - Uphill. I use the toilet at the top of the hill to make sure I'm not slowed down by a full bladder the last 18 miles. 9. 6:53 - This is where it got tough. The big hill was over, but we were doing 4 miles of slight uphill against wind and rain. 10. 6:48 - Trying to pick it up, but I can't seem to move any faster without forcing it. Too early to force it. 11. 7:00 - Too slow. 12. 6:39 - Finally over the uphill and now we're level 13. 6:33 - Better, but still too slow. These last 2 miles would have easily been 6:15 - 6:20 in previous years. 14. 6:25 - We pass the 1/2 way point. I start to pick it up a little. 15. 6:02 - The downhill begins. I'm not as fluid as usual 'cause the shoes are soaked. 16. 5:57 - This is always my favorite mile. Just 10 to go and I'm feeling great. 17. 6:19 - I'm energized after the massive downhill. 18. 6:31 - Not bad. I start to feel the fatigue again like I was feeling at mile 11. 19. 7:05 - The ledges area. This was exhausting, and it was the hardest wind/rain of the day. 20. 6:28 - Steep downhill again, but I don't have the energy for sub-6:00 21. 6:23 - Still holding my own. A sub-2:50 is looking realistic at this point. 22. 6:58 - Bump in the road slows me down, but not too much. 23. 6:46 - Still feeling pretty good. I know my family and friends are coming up. 24. 7:32 - I pass the family & friends, and then I start to fade. Adam passes and gets the crowd motivated to cheer the first place girl runner.
25. 8:16 - Had to stop a couple times. The endurance just wasn't there. Michelle and the winning girl pass me. 26. 7:45 - Felt terrible, but I kept moving. .2 - 7:00 - Enough motivation to gut out a 7:00 pace.
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