7:30am: It was about 40 degrees at the start. I felt pretty good when we started. The first mile was downhill then miles 2-4 had ups, downs, turns, you name it. I was slower than I had planned at mile 5. I was averaging 6:33. Then we hit more straight and gradual slope so I was able to settle in to a better pace. The good news is that it clouded-up and we barely saw the sun the whole way. It was probably only 55 when I finished. Except for the headwind the last 5-6 miles, it was perfect.
I hit the turn at the 10 mile mark averaging 6:25 so I was back on plan. The next 4 miles were tougher with some nasty hills on an out and back up to the entrance of the Biosphere 2. I hit the halfway point at 1:25:31. By the time I hit the main road again at mile 14, my average had sagged to 6:35. Back on the main road I was able to bring it down a few seconds over the next few miles. I was moving pretty good through mile 19 when we started to hit a headwind and I was getting a little tired. By mile 20 we had some uphills off and on until mile 23. My pace faded due to the wind and hills and my fatigue but I still kept it respectable. At mile 24 we had to make a sharp turn, run 100 yards uphill to the back of a strip mall, then make another sharp turn and climb again to the other end of the shopping center. Then we got to make a sharp left to loop around a neighborhood to make the finish. Mile 24 was bad but I did better the last mile even though I had to dodge a lot of half-marathon walkers that were clogging the narrow lane we had to run in. I finished strong and set a new PR for myself at 2:53:24. I was thinking I could get a 2:51 or 2:52 but I slowed too much in the last 4-5 miles. I will keep working harder and I KNOW I can get that 2:45 in 2009!!! Here are my mile splits: 1. 6:11 2. 6:34 3. 6:37 4. 6:51 5. 6:28 6. 6:15 7. 6:15 8. 6:20 9. 6:18 10. 6:25 11. 6:50 (uphill)
12. 7:14 (lots of uphill) 13. 6:34 14. 6:44 15. 6:27 (back on a straight road0 16. 6:33 17. 6:30 18. 6:29 19. 6:37 20. 6:47 21. 6:49 22. 6:52 23. 6:49 24. 6:49 25. 7:05 26. 6:55 0.2 6:17 I finished in 16th overall, 15th in men's and 2nd in my age group out of over 1200 runners. It was a GREAT DAY!!! I know that MILES=SUCCESS and I want MORE!!!
| 