Great day overall. I say this despite the fact that it was a complete beatdown physically and mentally the last four miles or so. It has been a struggle for whatever reason this year to get enthused about long road running and this marathon...but was definitely cool to run with my brothers and the Huntsville valley is so beautiful. I felt steady until mile 18 then the chains started falling off. I started to feel underfueled and just plain fatigued so couldnt muster the mental juice to endure the pain of the consistent pace. splits first half...8:42, 8:44, 8:36, 8:37, 8:33, 8:28, 8:29, 8:47, 8:44, 8:34, 8:58, 8:37, 8:44...very consistent miles for a 1:52ish half which I thought was perfect. Second half 9:09, 9:09, 9:12, 8:42, 9:35, 9:24, 9:23, 8:53, 9:31, 9:02, 10:12 (ouch), 10:38 (double ouch), 12:01 (ah the blessed pain of it all).. And there it is folks...Props to Joshy and Oreo for a great races and kicking my trash and to Hairdog who I beat but I should because he doesnt even run. Tough kid to finish this sucker. | 