We tried to crash at the next major exchange on the gravel and pavement, but didn't get much sleep. I was still coughing a lot and that didn't help my sleep. I was able to stay hydrated though because I was drinking so much water. Van 2 did a great job on their legs other than the phone/potty break, and had gained another 2 minutes on the running store. Our van ran awesome on the second legs and we had some funny experiences from them. Mostly of the funny things took place because of everyone losing their foot-long sub along the way. Logan had a killer second leg where he averaged 4:55 per mile and put another 4:30 on his guy form the running store. I started my run at about 3:35am and uphill I went for over 4 miles. I climbed around 600 feet in this leg. The climb wasn't that bad when I didn't have a killer head wind. The first mile was 6:36 and I passed my first and only runner of the whole relay. After a mile I turned right, into a headwind, and everyone I passed from then on was walking. Mile two was a killer 7:20. Mile 3 was better because I turned out of the wind half way and picked it back up to 6:46. The next mile came and went in 6:10 (pushing hard to be done). This leg was supposed to be 3.9, and when I hit 4 I began to worry that I had missed a turn or something. But I think what happened in th exchange was moved back 3/10s of a mile because everything was right on with the map except the first mile or so. I finished the last .25 in 1:08 (pretty much a sprint at this point). I dropped the ball a little in this one running 28:11 for the 4.25 miles, 6:45 ave., when I was supposed to average 6:34 pace. I hacked my head off again for 20 minutes when I got done. We waited to see how far back the running store was and they finally made it in 18 minutes back. By then we knew Adam had already made his exchange and we were a whole exchange ahead, so we never worried about them after that. The hard stuff was done and I only had a very short 2 mile leg left, for which I was very grateful because I was feeling pretty sick. The key to relay success is learning how to eat and sleep at random times, something I am getting better at. The problem with being sick was I could do neither because of stomach problems and coughing. I knew no matter how sick I was I could go two miles. I didn't get any food or sleep between my last two legs. The other van had short legs so we were on quick again. Everyone ran great again and was glad to be done. At the beginning of Clyde's last leg we caught the final team and from then on we were on our own. My last leg was at 8:29am. Walter came in looking great and I was excited to run a short leg, especially since I had bad stomach craps before I started. I had heard that this leg might even be shorter than 2 miles so I hung on. The first mile was very rolling and I was in pain (5:59). The last mile got a little easier and I pushed hard know I would soon be done. The 2nd mile beeped on the Garmin right at the hand off with Adam (5:27). I was done, yes! I have never been in the first van so it was nice to leave to the other guys for a change. I hacked and hacked when I finished and almost puked too. It was all good though because I had done my job being sicker that a dog. My average was 5:43 per mile, only 5 seconds off my goal pace of 5:38. (Fastwitch -65 miles) We headed over to the finish line and waited for the 2nd van to get done. There wasn't anyone there when we arrived so everyone thought we were volunteers. The beers guys ever asked us all to help them set up the beer tent and kegerator. We sat around and laughed at some of our adventures until the other team called to say Ashbaker was on his way. The finish line was empty and Tanner and Dan had to hurry and find their equipment so they could announce our finish. We all ran in together, as follows tradition. Our final time was 17:04:37, a course record by almost 2 hours! We went over to James and Lybi's home and they fed our tired and worn bodies. That was extremely nice of them. After a quick shower we decided to head out. We drove to Flagstaff and got a room. We ate IHOP and had a Fudrucker's experience similar to last year, for those who know what I am talking about. If our waitress wouldn't have been a nutcase herself, we probably would have gotten arrested. Good good times! We did what we went to Del Sol to d and had a great time doing it.
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