What a fun race! My brother and I rode downtown early this morning together and made sure we got to the starting line with about 10 minutes to spare. There were SO many runners! We decided to stretch for a bit and line up toward the back. I don't think we crossed the starting line until about 8 or 9 minutes after the clock started, but it was nice to start off with a slower, less crowded group. I had to weave in and out of people for the first couple of miles to maintain my pace. I was feeling GREAT the first 5-6 miles and didn't need to stop for a drink until mile 6. My ITB wasn't bothering me too badly and I maintained between a 8:40 - 8:55 min/mile for those first 6 miles. I was SO pumped! I felt my legs starting to get pretty tired around mile 9 and started to feel myself slow down. I still kept my pace below a 9:05 min/mile though. I was on my way to a sub 2 hour PR!!! Then around 9.5 miles something happened to my knee and I felt horrible shooting pain from my hip to the side of my left knee. DANG ITB!!! I felt like cursing every step the last 3.5 miles. I almost cried as I watched my average pace keep dropping. I even had to walk a few times up the hill on State Street toward the end because the pain was SO unbearable. So I'm kind of discouraged with my time and my knee and am trying to just be proud of myself for finishing. I don't even think my Garmin time is completely accurate b/c I accidently hit the stop button with my arm while I was reaching to change a song on my Ipod. I think I caught it soon after I heard it beep, but who knows. All in all, I'm trying to focus on those first 9 miles and how much fun I had. It was such a beautiful day and a fun course. It would be great if I could get my ITB feeling better and run it again next year to see how I do. | 