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Comments: Started out near the front but I didn't realize that the few people in front of me were all much slower. The road narrowed not long after the start so the faster runners on the other side got in front and I was pinned down. My goal was to get into my race zone as quickly as possible for the first two miles and then go above my race zone for the last mile. Getting stuck behind a fat Mexican guy wasn't how I wanted to start the day. Made the first turn and things finally started to spread out. I was at the upper end of my race zone and slowly passing people one by one. Turned past the water table just past the half mile marker but they weren't even trying to hand out water so I'll just wait for the next one. Ran through a large puddle on the trail and was just happy that my feet weren't soaked for the rest of the run. Hit the one mile marker at 6:40. Good for a sub-par start. About a quarter mile later the race leader went flying by the other way. Damn. No one was even close to him. And a girl was in 3rd place! Saw Ahmed crossing the bridge just as I was getting to it. Hit the turn around a moment later and I was starting to hurt. I haven't done much running at this type of pace so it's still a bit of a shock. Now I was starting to dread this final mile. Saw Haley and Shiner coming up the trail. Shiner looked like he was having a lot of fun. I think Haley yelled something at me but I couldn't tell what. I was in a solid pace group with two other guys. Then we hit the mile 2 marker. Ugh. Time to go fast. I tried to keep the same cadence and increasee the length of my stride. Quickly passed both of the guys I had been running with was slowly moving up the field. Got to the puddle crossing and fell behind the guy in front of me rather than getting my socks and shoes drenched. My HR fell back into my race zone but it was back quickly as I passed the guy and kept on going. Why couldn't there have been more than one water station?! Came towards the end of the trail and grabbed a quick drink as I passed the aid station and got back on the road. There was a thin chain of people ahead of me and I started to wonder just how many I could pick off. We all stayed in about the same order until the final turn. Both the guy and girl just ahead of me were hurting. They knew they were on the final stretch and were gassed. I passed them each up with a steady stride and wasnted to make a strong enough pass so that they wouldn't even think about trying to keep up. Rounded the final corner and crossed the line. I nearly puked, but I made it. What would you do differently?: Run through the water and not slow down to cross at the shallow section. Pick a better starting spot.  Post race
Warm down: Walked around and tried to catch my breath. Coach Z asked me how things went and all I could get out was, "I hate you." Thankfully he understood my sarcasm through my exhaustion. Walked back to the Jeep, grabbed my Endurox, put on some warm clothes and waited with my camera for Haley to come by. Took some action shots of her and Shiner and jogged along so I could see them at the finish. First thing Haley did when she was done was hand Shiner's leash to me. I guess she had had her fill of him for the day. Hung out and grabbed something to drink. Turns out the top male and female were a couple from Colorado. I took home 2nd in my age group. Best I've ever place at a running race. What limited your ability to perform faster: Not much. Event comments: Fun race on New Years. I'll be back next year. Profile Album Last updated: 2007-01-01 12:00 AM
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United States
Thruston Racing
40F / 4C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 46/401
Age Group = M 20-24
Age Group Rank = 2/8
Woke up, took the dogs out and fed them, woke Haley(Comet) up, made a couple of PB&J sandwiches, loaded Shiner into the car and headed out. Checked in and got our bib numbers and t-shirts. Ran into Tommy(zia_cyclist) and his wife.
Went back to the Jeep to put up our warm clothes and drop off Shiner. That's when we decided that Haley was going to run with him. Shiner is going to do his first race!
Just as we were about to head back to the start line when we were approached by Sarah(Brachiator). More new BTers! Apparently someone told her to look for the bearded guy with the flag. Who knew that we'd be parked 10 feet away from each other.
The girls were going to be starting towards the back so I hung out with them before I moved up to the front for the start. Finally it got close to race time so I tried to find a good spot to start. I ran into Ahmed and got to say hello before he kicked my ass. I also needed to find out if my race strategy should change because the race had been shortened from a 5 miler to a 5K on account of rain and mud on the trail.
Stood around at the start line waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Apparently they were remeasuring the whole course to make sure the new distance was accurate. So we waited. And a people would start running up and down the street to keep warm. And waiting. And more warm-up running. And waiting.
Finally, a half hour later, they were finally ready to let us start.