Really good, fun race for me today. Goal coming in was to hit between 2:55 - 2:58, but I especially wanted to negative split the course. I've never felt better during a marathon, and even though I went through a rough patch, I was able to hold it together and finish strong. Miles 1-5: 6:36, 6:48, 6:36, 6:26, 6:36. Within a few miles I ran into Melanie B. and Julie E. Ran with them for the first 13 which really helped the miles to go by fast and kept the pace honest. Just cruising along here. 6-10: 6:27, 6:31, 7:18, 7:01, 6:57. Got up Veyo and started the remaining climb. Felt pretty good, but definitely had to work more on the uphill. 11-15: 7:08, 6:56, 6:36, 6:42, 6:29. Hit the halfway point at 1:28:50, which was exactly what I wanted. Feeling pretty good, and looking forward to the downhill. 16-20: 6:23, 6:28, 6:29, 6:56, 6:38. Great part of the course. Loved these miles, but the legs are starting to feel it. Actually enjoyed the little uphill in mile 19 going under the overpass. 21-26.2: 6:24, 6:53, 7:12, 6:32, 6:41, 6:32, 1:38 (6:15). The struggle starts around 21.5. Right at the mile 22 mark I stopped and hit the bathroom. Lost about 40 seconds but mentally it seemed to help me. 21 - 23 were the biggest struggles for me, but I just kept plugging along. Hit the diagonal and was able to get into a groove and even though I was having to work pretty hard I still felt relatively good. Caught and passed several people these last 2 miles. But there was some girl who went flying by me around mile 25. Like I mentioned, I'm very happy with this race. This is about a 4 min PR (2:59:40 at TOU last year) and about 7 min faster than the first time I ran this race in 2009. Never thought I would ever run a marathon in the mid 2:50s, but I'll just keep on working to get to the low 2:50s and then the 2:40s.
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