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Comments: Run went better than I couyld have ever expected. The 1st mile or so was downhill. Runners were not bunched up too bad. 1st 5 miles flew by...my pace for these was around 9:15. I had to stop to pee during mile 6 but there was no line for the Porta Potty so it didn't take long. During this time we were on asphalt. We even ran by some baseball / softball games. Everything was going really well until we got to some of the hillier sections during the trail portion in miles 7 - 11. I could feel my HR elevating an it was taking a while to get it back down during the flat sections. My pace definitely slowed with one my splits at 10:40. I took a gel after mile 9 and a big cup of gatorade and water. Before that I could feel my energy level getting low. I was running all the aid stations to this point and I was getting cups that didn't have much in them. At mile 10, 2 of the 2:10 pacers ran by me and I said "Oh crap!" I picked it up a bit and people in the group said they were actually running closer to 2:05 and the main 2:10 group was still behind us. I hung with them for about 3/4 of a mile and then just let them go. During this point in the race my pace was slowing and a lot of people were passing me. I keep chugging along and got a burst of energy when I saw the 12 mile mark. I don't know why but I just started smiling. I knew I was going to break 2:10 and I felt really strong. Only a few people passed me during the last mile and I was trying to encourage others to keep it up. The finish is really cool. You run up a small hill into the football stadium an do 3/4 of a lap on the track. The enrgy level was great. I heard Bridget yell for me on the turn. I was so pumped when I came around the corner and saw 2:09 on the race clock. I was going to break 2:10 for the Race Clock too! I ran hard through the finish put my hands up and smiled ear to ear. What a race! What would you do differently?: Drink more at aid stations. I probably should have started out slower but I felt really good and when I tried to slow down it felt akward.  Post race
Warm down: 2 bottles of water and then spent 20 minutes looking for Bridget. Chatted with my friend from work and she found us. Grabbed some Veggie soup too. What limited your ability to perform faster: Train more on hills. They really zapped my energy in miles 8-10. Event comments: The race was well run. I will definitely do it again. I have come a long way in one year. Last year on a super flat course I ran a 2:32. To cut 25 minutes off my time last year feels great. All the training and hard work paid off. Sometime back in December I stumbled upon a BT Mentor thread and that has changed a lot of things about how I train and log my workouts. I owe a lot to madcow's group -- thanks! The best part of the day was having Bridget there to support me. The whole ride home I re-capped the race for her. She has been supportive of all my training and it was great to have her there on race day. Last updated: 2006-12-27 12:00 AM
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United States
Lehigh Valley Road Runners
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1875/3000
Age Group = 30
Age Group Rank = 144/177
Woke up at 4:30. Had two cups of coffee and a two slices of whole grain toast with peanut butter. Also drank some water. Took a shower and used the facilities before heading out. Bridget and I were on the road by 5:35 for the one hour plus trip up to Allentown. Cruised up with no traffic or problems with directions and parked the car at 7:00.
We went to the high school to pick up my packet. Sat in the gym bleachers for a while and ate a Clif Bar and sipped on some gatorade. During the 45 minutes in the gym, I hit the bathroom again and ran into an old friend-of-a-friend from my days at U of Delaware.
I was telling Bridget that I was getting a bit nervous. Last year, I was just hoping to finish. This year I had a goal in mind. I would be happy with sub 2:15 and ecstatic with anything under 2:10. I knew I was going to miss her since we ran together for 11 miles of the race last year.
Walked to the start line which was about 2 blocks for the school. Chatted with my friend from U of Delaware. He was planning to run around 1:45 so that was the last I saw of him. I ran into another friend from work who was trying to break 2:00 so he went ahead of me in the pre-race line up. I situtated myself next to the 2:10 pace group.