Awesome race. Not quite the BQ I was looking for, but I can smell it. It is great to see the guys from SG and the blog and hear how well they did.
Laur and I got a olive garden take out on Friday, and talked to a couple guys in my age group that were gunning for 3:10-3:15, so we chatted for a bit. I love the running community. Got to bed about 9:30PM but woke up @ 10:30Pm, from then until 3:41Am it was off and on.
Laur took chad and I to the shuttle. I saw the Wilkinson sisters on the bus, so we chatted all the way to the drop off. Chad and I got in +/- row 20 @ the start line and off we went.
1-7:17 wanted to be 7 seconds faster.
2-7:17
3-7:27 wanted to hit the first 3 in 7:10 a piece, but I realized as I was running elevation has to factor in.
4-7:35
5-7:23 Around mile 3 I started pulling away from chad and checking back. I wanted him to run with me, but I was worried that the pace was going to be too slow if I waited. i could hear him back there by this time, so i thought he must be feeling okay.
6-7:28 I was well behind my goal time at the fork in the road, but I was feeling confident I could make up sometime in the canyon.
7-7:54 Chad caught me here in the uphill miles. I was getting frustrated here, because i was thinking the course had steeper downhills than this. i also was thinking-fortunately, the uphills aren't as steep either.
8-7:49 still in the second roller coaster hills. Got my 1st Gu on a donwhill here.
9-7:12 caught a down hill. Chad and I are running together and passing some people.
10-7:17
11-7:28 Where are all these uphills coming from. When I rode this course during state track and field, I didn't remember all these false hills!
12-7:21
13-6:58 caught a nice downhill. Chad and i are with each other. According to my wristband, we are off our overall goal pace by 2 seconds. That is nothing!
14-7:34 Two guys come up on me that were gunning for 3:15. It looks like one is pacing the other. I need to hang with them. (I did through mile 20. They would walk through the aid stations, and then catch me in the middle of each mile)
15-7:56 I planned on 7:50 here, since there is a decent hill here. My sock seam is riding on a middle toe on my right foot. It is not feeling great. (After the race, I lose a toenail because of it.)
16-7:45 What the crap is that?! My achilles is on fire. I have to really focus on running on the outside of my left foot. The road is slanted, so it sets up a nasty pronation. This is worst case scenario for an already bad wheel.
17-7:08 The running gods are watching down on me! My achilles subsides, and we catch a screaming tail wind on a nice little down hill.
18-7:24
19-7:34
20-7:42 2nd Gu here.
21-7:44 chad and I stop at the aid station, but I tell him we gotta go. We our about 1:15 off our goal time, but I am feeling really good right here. I told him that we got this @ 3:15, and he says okay.
22-7:37 Feeling really good here and I pull away from chad a bit. I am telling myself to be patient. The last 5K is the real race.
23-7:50 I grab an orange to stave off the gorilla.
24-7:55 just a block west of the campus. I can feel things start to go south, but I still think I got it.
25-8:23 This is it! I am shutting down. I start to feel a tingling in my hands. I can't make the 3:15:59 again. Not with the tailwind at mile 16-18. Not with Laurie waiting at the finish line. Not with the perfect temperatures. I am getting bitter. I walk @ the aid station to drink a water and poweraid. What a disappointment.
26-9:23 I walk a bit over the train track hill. There are others that are in as much pain as I am. The carnage that 26 miles brings is evident.
26.3- (8:59 pace) I push to get under the 3:20 mark, but the race is a .1 long, so I don't get that either.
After the race, things started to look brighter for me. I was already strategizing for the SG marathon. Attitudes during a marathon are just like the UV course description-Roller Coasters!
Barring injury, I think I got the 3:15 I need for BQ.
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