First 3 miles focused on keeping calm. Let folks pass me. Three miles in the HM folks broke off and I continued getting passed. Most of the first 8 miles is a gradual descent but I kept the pace easy at ~8:50. I had a brief restroom break just before the first turnaround.

I focused on getting gatorade and/or water at each aid station (roughly two mile spacing) based on what my body wanted and getting gels every ~45 minutes. At one point I got chewy blocks rather than a gel and was forced to decide between taking it or missing the calories. I took it and fortunately saw no ill effects. The website said the gels would not have caffeine (I thought) but the gels on the course had caffeine. Again, guess I got lucky here.

The stretch from mile 8 to mile 19 had some ups and downs but I think was mostly a net increase. I just focused on keeping the miles around 9:00.

Mile 19 was at the second turnaround. It started to hurt here. My watch told me it was a 9:38 mile but I attributed that to gaining a little elevation and the watch under-tracking the turnaround. More and more people started breaking - stopping to walk, people stretching beside the trail, etc. I tried to reach for the adrenaline rush I'd read might be there when you can pass people at the finish, but it just wasn't there. I was too tired.

Around 22 miles in my stomach started to hurt. I skipped the last gel and just took a little taste of it to fool my brain. From there on I only took water. 24 miles in the stomach started to feel better.

Somewhere about 22-23 miles in I felt like I started to panic. It just seemed like a long way to go. My legs just didn't feel great. "Kicking it" to the finish just wasn't an option. At that point I just had to keep it in the mid-9s or better to beat my 4:00 'safe' goal. The last 20 minutes was just mental negotiation to keep the legs turning.

The last half mile was downhill and I finally knew for sure I'd make it and beat 4:00. Then I saw Sarah, LB, and Timmy just before the finish and felt great for the first time in an hour or two.

I feel like I did about as well as I could have during the event itself.

Frankly I couldn't walk very well. LB and Timmy were holding my hands and as they flitted about I almost fell. I grabbed some oranges and a slice of pizza. I tried to stretch but couldn't - any attempts resulted in cramps everywhere else. Got in car for ride back to Charlotte. Had a massage on Monday - that was pretty unpleasant but I think it helped.

Today (Tuesday) is the first day I can walk reasonably well. My legs were completely shot Sunday and Monday. My two year old had to 'help' me down the stairs; on Sunday I actually just went down the stairs sideways, one at a time. Today I'm back to a baseline of 'normal' soreness.