All about that pace.

5:00am

Too much snooze button, had to cut it short.

Distance    Split pace
1.00    6:47
2.00    6:57
3.00    6:58
4.00    6:53
5.00    6:40
6.00    6:54
6.02    5:45

4:30am

Farwest hill x 2

Distance    Split pace
1.00    7:05
2.00    7:13
3.00    7:09
4.00    7:12
5.00    7:07
6.00    7:13
7.00    7:27
8.00    7:19
9.00    7:19
10.00    7:10
11.00    7:11
11.17    7:05

4:30am

I got a sharp pain in the bottom of my foot just behind the middle and second smallest toes. I tried walking a bit and it was worse than running so I continued to run back home. It was much better by the time I got back home and I considered finishing the run, but decided to just take it easy until Saturday. What the heck? It still hurts off and on when I walk. It feels like there's a little rock or something inside my foot that's grinding against the bone when I take a step, but not all the time.

3:00pm

This race really chewed me up and spit me out. The wind and the hills were just too much for me today. The course went out and back twice on the same U shaped route and more than half of it was on primitive dirt/gravel roads chock full of pot holes etc. There were plenty of aid stations, but they were strategically located on the uphill grades so to get a drink you 'd have to break your stride mid-hill, and then struggle to get going again. My foot didn't bother me much until the second time out, and then on the way back the long uphill grade on the dirt road just did me in. I couldn't handle the extra pressure on the ball of my foot from running uphill so I walked nearly all of mile 11. I was already exhausted from running against the wind and the fact that I was still catching up to the runner in front of me didn't give me much incentive to speed up. At the top of the last hill on that dirt road I figured I would at least try to run the downhill side. My foot still twinged a little with almost every step from the uneven surface, but it felt a lot better than it did running uphill. Once I got back to the pavement it was ok for the last mile or so on the highway even though it was uphill again. The last .1 was an easy down hill into the park which took the pressure off of my forefoot enough that I was able to kick across the finish line and not look like a total loser.  Technically, I guess this is a PR for the 1/2 even though my average pace was slower than my last full marathon.

Distance    Split pace
1.00    6:36
2.00    6:50
3.00    7:08
4.00    7:05
5.00    7:01
6.00    7:18
7.00    7:14
8.00    7:07
9.00    7:29
10.00    8:14
11.00    11:09
12.00    7:54
13.00    7:26
13.11    5:36