I have been having IT band problems for several months so I knew today would not be stellar, but I expected better than this... I talked to Jeff Shadley at the start, and saw Steve and Ben (who had a spectacular race).
To begin with, it was warm again. I do not deal with warm very well at all. I started nice and steady and set a goal to hit the 1/2 around 1:40 and see if I could push it in the 2nd half. I made sure to drink extra at the water stations to ensure I would be hydrated. When we started the climb at Veyo I was at a 7:17 average for the run so I felt pretty good. Veyo was hard but I kept it together. I did, however, start to feel a "hot spot" on my left foot. This would be a problem a few miles later. I actually hit the 1/2 right around 1:39, so I figured with an even split I would hit 3:18 and maybe better. My stomach was giving me issues with all the extra water, but I could deal with that. The big problem was the now MASSIVE blister I could feel sloshing under every step of my left foot. I could not pick up the pace at all and in fact had to slow down and alter my footfall to make sure I could even finish. My thoughts of a sub-3:15 just a few miles back went completely out the window as I struggled to find ways to land on my foot without having the blister explode. I did make sure that I never stopped, not even for 1 step. I knew that if I stopped I might have a hard time going again so I did not even dare. My difficulties even walking around at the finish area proved that I made the right decision. I stayed steady the last 6 miles with a new goal of "just stay under 3:30" which I did. I was very happy to see the finish line. My walk back to the hotel, however, took a very long time as I could barely put any weight on my blistered foot. That was the longest mile and a half walk of my life. The good news is that the blister did not explode and is not too bloody. Hopefully I will be back at it in a few days.
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