I ran a little out of my comfort zone but was prepared from an equipment and preparation standpoint. No equipment issues or layer issues.

Not drink as much pre-race.

Stretching and recovery drink (Accelerade), then walking around talking to friends.


Had to stop and go to the restroom at mile 7.5. I could not catch-up after that point.


I planned on really pushing my effort on this race to see if I could set a new PR for the Half and to challenge myself with my new cadence and pace. My previous PR for the Half was 2:10:57. My goal for this race was 2:00:00.
I started too slow at the beginning as we started to spread out. I saw several friends (Kerri and Pam) and talked with them as we ran the first 1-2 miles. I had to stop talking and take off at mile 2 when I realized that I was 1:30 behind my pace goal. Going from mile 3-6 was awesome as it was a gradual downhill (except for the overpass). I could feel that I was slightly out of my comfort zone as I was working hard to make up the lost time. I ran a 57:06(9:12) 10k time. That beat my previous PR by 2 minutes! Then at mile 7, I had to stop and pee. I waiting in line for about 2 minutes and then went as fast as I could. Total time stopped was probabl7 2-3 minutes. I knew I had some make-up to do from there. If I had known the course better, I would have stopped earlier and gone to the restroom. The next 2 miles were a gradual incline as we made our way to Burnet road. The first part of this 3 mile stretch was very narrow and I had a hard time getting through the bunched up runners. I might have spent too much energy fighting my way through the pack here. There were several sections on Burnet road that were rolling and I pushed the downhills as much as I could. I was back on goal pace by mile 9 and 10 but then started to slow between 10-12. I really struggled here as it seemed the road was constantly inclining. I know the course is mostly downhill so I am not sure why I felt this way. At mile 11 I was 2:00 behind. At mile 12 I was 2:30 behind. I decided that this was gut check time and I picked up the pace and the pain. I made up 1:30 seconds until the last hill and last turn to go downhill to the finish. I tried to kick-it the last mile and finished with a time of 2:01:10. Only 1:10 behind my 2:00:00 goal.
If I had not stopped to pee, I think I could have made the goal. Of course, allot goes into a race, and I think was prepared. I could have always had more work going into the race. Next year, I will beat 2:00:00 at this race.