Well not what I wanted to have happen for the day. I knew if if I had some good conditions today I would have been flirting with sub 2:30, but that was not to be. I met Clyde on the corner by the park waiting for Dave and sat on the bus next to him. It was raining at the park and was quite warm so I knew we were in for it. I was wishing I had another pair of shoes with me to keep my race shoes dry, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. It rained the whole time at the start and I tried to keep dry and warm under my emergency poncho and by the fire. I took off by myself and ran the first three miles alone. I picked up Cody and a guy named Ben and they drafted of me for a couple miles. We picked Bill Cobler up a mile later and he drafted off me as well. At Veyo hill we caught upto Steve Olsen and made a little group on the uphill section. We plugged along until mile 11 where we caught Jon, Walter, Greg, Kory, and the rest of the sub 2:30 pace crew. The next couple of miles were nasty and we were slowed down a lot by the wind. Jon took off at this time and got way up ahead, some of the others dropped back, and Cody, Greg, Walter, and some other guy stuck with me. We hit the half in 1:22:00. The second half was just as bad or worse weather wise. The winds kept up and it felt like we weren't going anywhere at times. I lost touch of my little group for a couple of miles after Snow Canyon, but they returned around mile 17-18. Greg went ahead with Walter for a mile or so and then dropped back with Cody. Walter and I hung together for the next few miles and finally caught Jon at about 22.5 miles. We pulled Jon along with us after that and ran the next couple of miles together. My hamstrings were really feeling it these last few miles from the wet and heavy shoes. With a couple miles to go I could see we still had a chance to go sub 2:40. I started to push a little more and tried to pull Jon and Walter along. But with one mile to go I knew I had to leave them if I wanted to go sub 2:40. I pushed it the last mile and almost caught Jeff Mc and another guy but ran out of road. I saw the clock turn 2:40 seconds before crossing the line, bummer! Splits:
Mile 1. 6:08
Mile 2. 6:17
Mile 3 6:05
Mile 4 5:42
Mile 5&6 . 11:42
Mile 7&8. with Veyo. 12:44
Mile 9&10. 13:07
Mile 11&12. 13:14 Half way. 1:22:01
Mile 13.1-14. 5:15
Mile 15. 6:05
Mile 16. 5:46
Mile17. 6:03
Mile 18,19&20. 18:25 (2:03:37)
Mile 21&22. 11:39
Mile 23&24. 11:40
Mile 25-25.2. 7:08
Last mile. 5:58 (Last 10K in 36:31) I was as disappointed as anyone else. Others have done more than double the training I have, but I new what I was capable of and didn't come close because of the weather. I didn't feel quite as bad seeing how bad it hurt everyone else. I was glad that I proved that I could still run with or ahead of all of the guys that were supposed to destroy me, like I knew I could. Overall the run was a beast, headwinds and rain the whole way with no break. I was wet after the first mile and things only got worse. Worst weather in the history of the race! The kicker was it was nice the day before and after. I guess things could have been worse, so I'll just accept the terrible. I did think that many people ran great for the conditions, good job to them! Proofs (Tangent 2- 82 miles)
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