I had to get out of here or I was going to stop running until spring. Or go postal. Thankfully Trace Lund had a hotel room and a car and I had the brains to escape, so we did. Four guys in one room of the Fairfield is a bit much but I slept fine on the thin mattress by the sink and nobody had to use the loo until 5:30 so all was good. The pub next door had surprisingly good Salmon to the nutrition was all in order as well. All we needed was a decent temperature and everything would be perfect. 23 degrees. Imagine four guys staring at a TV screen at 6AM, 3 hours to the start, just watching slides go by of temperatures in nearby towns. Shouts of glee when they go up, boos when they drop. Worse than the superbowl, and no chips. Turns out that 25 degrees felt downright toasty to all of us so no worries there. Heck by the end of the race I was in shirtsleeves lying on the grass and it was 42. Anyway the whole fast group showed up again, almost as if it was planned, this is starting to get freaky. I hung with the front group effortlessly for the first mile (5:21) but I started to think that since this was my first flat half I should probably run slower than my mile interval pace (5:30). Oh screw it I don't care I am going to go for it. But the first 6 miles are uphill. On mile 2 people started to pull away, but I still managed a 5:47 even with some significant uphill. Mile 3 the same (6:01), now I was 13 seconds off my all time best 5K and up 80 feet over the start to boot. I started to wonder whose body I had borrowed as this was going really well. Then Tony passed me. Usually he waits to the end but he was having a good day I suppose. I knew Steve and Walter were way up front, so I had hopes to hang on to 3rd in the division again. With miles to go until the top I just tried to hang on. But usually I run tempo miles this fast and only 4 of them so really pleased still. Next miles were 5:57, 6:05, and 6:28 on a very significant hill. Now I could start down. Hooray! Except then I came around the corner and Who put that bloody hill there?!? It just goes and goes and .. Arrgh. Up we go, and that breathing sounds female. Yikes! I've been passed by TWO girls running together! Finally at the end of mile 7 (6:23) we were at the top of the 100 foot hill and the downhill started in earnest. I tried to catch them but Kodi and Kassi were very fast and would not be seen, let alone caught, for the remainder of the race. The course map showed the last 6 miles as downhill but what really happens is about a mile of downhill with everything else perfectly flat. The next two miles were exceedingly zippy (5:59) and I managed to catch air when I grabbed the post on the switchback in mile 8 and did the 180 with my arm. Wheee! Then a long slog through the flats, which I bet just bake in the summer, and I got lost for a moment in mile 11. Then suddenly the finish line just popped up and I did the last quarter at a 5:05 pace. Trent Jensen passed me at the end again. This time he didn't puke. Now I think I can deal with the weather again.
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