First marathon ever, next time I am bringing compression socks so my calves don't lock up for the last 5 miles. I should have been at 2:35. Mile 1,2 - I worked my way up to the elite corral and saw a lot of people - Walter, Brandon, Dan, Toni - it was totally cool. The race went off and everybody was moving super slowly. Somehow about 100 people had managed to work their way in front while I was distracted, but it was good because I needed a warmup. I slowly worked my way up to the fast guys that I thought were running my goal time of 2:38 and locked it in. The tailwind made it super easy, with miles 1 and 2 at 5:48 and 6:00, even with that dinky hill in 2. 3,4,5,6,7 - 5:38 to 5:27. I found to my horror that the guys I was running with were targeting the high 2:20s, and even worse, I kept blowing by them on the steeper downhills while they caught up on the flatter bits. Nothing I could do, I was already at my slowest speed. Nearly not breathing (OK, 3 and 3 on the hard parts) I took the Veyo hill like a snail inching up a mango tree, in the mid 7s, but still ended up with 6:37 for mile 8. The rest of the hill up to 12 was 6:30 to 6:09 thanks to the tailwind. All I wanted to do was get to the top of the hill feeling fresh and I did it. Now it was time to fly. But I was not completely fresh, because I could not get below 5:48 on 13-18. I didn't get over 6 either, so I was OK with it. My salt capsule blew up at mile 15 but I still got most of it with a quick stop at the aid station. Trouble started at mile 19. It seemed a little harder to get up the hill, so I slowed down so I could fly down the last part of the course and got a 6:29. But not slow enough. Mile 20 sped back up to 5:59, but my calf started to twinge every time I went up hill even slightly. Finally in the middle of mile 21 I had to stop and massage it, but it didn't help. Only 10 second walk breaks at the aid stations gave me a respite, and it got worse quickly. I still managed a 6:18 for 21, but after that I got slammed into the 6:33-7:17 bracket and lost my shot at sub 2:40. But all was not lost, my favorite thing happened at the end. Trent Jensen passed me in the last 200 meters and it was sprint time! I was fully locked up calfwise and moving 15 MPH anyway, but not quite fast enough to get him back. But at least I made him puke :[] I also had the odd coincidence of matching my bib number with my place.
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