Did the Expedition St. George Relay with Sean, Rodney, Alex, and Nick. Starting with the first leg run by Rodney, we started out in the lead. After the first leg, we never lost that lead, although there were some pretty close calls from the Running Center Guys. My first leg was the sixth, starting out in front of Sunrise Tire heading toward Arctic Circle where I turned and eventually got to the trail. The course took me on the Middleton Wash Trail to Virgin River Trail to Mosquito Trail and finally finishing at the new soccer park in Washington. It was a good run and felt pretty decent. Ended up taking the first mile a bit too fast (5:10) but was able to keep the rest of the leg at around 6:00 pace. From what people were telling me, Steve and I kept about the same pace through the whole leg until towards the last mile when he started to gain some ground on me. Pretty good leg, and glad I did that one seeing that I'm so familiar with it from running there so many times in High School. Calves were pretty tight and hurting quite a bit afterwards but stretching helped and they felt better but still a bit tender by my next leg. My second leg was the 10th and last leg. Starting into it I'm guessing I had about a 2:00-2:30 head start from the Running Center team. I start out pretty quick, perhaps to quick, so I slowed down a bit and tried to pace myself. Not too long after that I started hurting and felt drained of energy and slowing down, but I forced myself to push through it and pick up the pace again. Once I did that those negative feelings left and was able to get back into race mode. I knew from the beginning Clyde was going to close in the gap as I know how great of a runner he is. So at about the end of Man O War on the bridge I was told Clyde was about 50 sec. behind me and I could faintly start to hear his footsteps. I don't know if I really could or it was just my brain playing tricks on me but I didn't ever want to look back to see how close he was because I knew that if I did, I would slow down. So onto the Bloomington Trail back to the Dixie Center. 40 Sec. 30 Sec. 25, 15, 10 Seconds behind me. He was closing in on me and I could definitely hear his footsteps now so I continued to push harder. I got to the last bridge before the DC and I can see my team and the Running Center team there yelling at both of us. Around the curve after the bridge I chance a glance at Clyde. It surprised me at how close he was. Right then Rodney yells at me that there is only 800 meters left so I start to book it. I then decide to look at my watch and realize that there is really a mile left. Unbeknownst to myself or my teammates, the finish continues along the trail for awhile more before it turns into the DC parking lot. But I knew that if I wanted to win this race then I needed to push the entire way. It felt pretty much like a sprint. My legs were pounding, throbbing, and jello. I knew Clyde was hurting but still wanted it. So I kept pushing. I ended up crossing the line with Clyde only eight seconds behind me. After I crossed the line I nearly passed out, my vision was shaky and I couldn't quite see clearly for a bit. My teammates were holding me up so I didn't face plant it. So there it is, we won, it was so much fun, and we couldn't have done it with out the Running Center guys. They pushed us and made it fun and exciting. Glad they were there.
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