I did much better than I expected. My goal was to have a good time. Well, I did... :) Pr'd today by one minute and six seconds. This race was an experiment of cross training from the past three or so months. The highest milage week I had training for this race was a 29 mile week. That week is including my 22 mile long run. Race details: Slept in Pine Valley and was driven to the start line around 5:30. It was great staying so close to the start and not having to ride up on a bus. Start line was warm. Hung out with RAD a bit and fed off of her energy. Started out really slow, passed the start line four minutes after the gun. I went completely by how I felt with no goal in mind. I passed the 3:40 pace group and they were too slow. I approached the 3:30 group at around Veyo and again, too slow. I laughed as I thought I might be able to PR. Veyo was Veyo. Uphill and longer than I remember. All was well. I felt prepared for the uphill on this course. The heat was warm but it never really got to me. Not ideal running weather. I was taking electrolyte supplements every 45 minutes and I wonder if that is how I stayed away from the dreaded "wall." I hit the half at 1:40. By mile 14 I started kicking into gear. I can't tell you splits because I don't know them. The speed I was at felt comfortable and the scenery was beautiful. That is one of my favorite places on the route. I hated the fact that there was absolutely no GU given out during this race. I was expecting GU and it never came. I was frustrated mentally about the GU. By mile 20 another runner gave me one of his. I now know that I am able to run a race without GU. By mile 20 I punched into another gear and use the downhill to my advantage. I did a negative split on the course today and I PR'd my time by 14 minutes for this course. As far as races in the future I need to re-evaluate some of my goals and see how I can get closer to the 3 hour mark. Considering what I have gone through this running year, I think I did extremely well. Congrats to all of the runners today! Fantastic times and a lot of personal bests! | 