My big goal for today was to go under 7 minutes/mile. I hadn't done any running (and not much of anything else) since Tuesday, and wasn't sure how I'd feel. So, my strategy (if you can call it that) was to run pretty hard the first mile or so, and see where I was at, then see how likely it was that I could maintain 7's.

I lined up a few rows back, which, in retrospect, was too close to the front. I was keeping pace with people much faster than I should have been - there were a lot of superstud runners at this thing. Hit mile 1 at 6:17. Whoops! Hey genius - better back it off a little. Mile 2 was a little more reasonable (6:48), as was Mile 3 (6:54). So at this point, I'm a minute ahead of pace, and feeling pretty good, even with some of the early hills.

Mile 4 and 5 were steady, with some climbing, and I kept right around 7's. Hit the midway point just a few seconds above 34 minutes. It was at this point that life took a turn for the worse. I had taken a gel at the mile 3 water stop, and figured I had not had enough water with it, so I slowed down at the mile 5 water stop to drink a pretty full cup of water. I don't know if it was the water, the gel, or the pound of steak tips I had for dinner last night, but I started to develop a nasty cramp/side stitch. Mile 6 became one of the worst miles I've run in a race, trying to keep pushing up the hills while trying to ignore the major pain just under my ribs. Hit the end of mile 6 at 41:20 - crap, losing time. Tried to not stress about that and keep my goal in mind. The cramp/stitch started to subside a little, but basically stuck with me the rest of the way.

Miles 7, 8, and 9 seemed to be a perpetual, uphill grind. Not super steep for the most part, but just non-stop climbing. I think 7 and 8 were a few seconds over 7 minutes each, and through mile 9 I was having to pull up all my mental energy to keep moving, and still was losing some time. I hit the 9 mile mark at 1:02:40, and started giving myself the pep talk about "just one more mile, you can do anything for 7 minutes, you WILL make your goal". The first half of mile 10 was still uphill, but then it started to level off. Kept talking to myself - "just keep turning your feet, just keep turning them over...". Made the turn off the main road and started kicking even harder. Crossed the line at 1:09:37 (6:57 for that last mile).

NOT eat a pound of steak tips the night before.

Waited by the finish to see some other people I know finish, then inside for bagels, bananas, and pizza.


Probably something to do with nutrition/hydration...


I have to be happy overall with how things turned out today. Pretty grueling parts, but I feel like I toughed my way through it, and made my goal. Definitely gives me some mental strength to take into this season's long events. I also beat last year's time at this same race by almost 6 minutes, so I have to be pretty happy about seeing that kind of progress in a year.