Well, since the race started while I was goofing off in the pottie line. I waited where I was at for the corrals to get closer to the start line. I jumped in when corral 13 arrived. I started off nicely and found my pace. I was lucky and found the right spot. I was able to run without a bunch of zig zagging around a bunch of walkers. I stripped my sweatshirt at mile two and the gloves came off about a mile later.

I'm not sure how it happened but my watch was off when I started. I must have bumped it earlier...anyhoo, this caused me to not have an accurate time while running. Just after the 5k point the pacer for 2:15 caught up to me. I decided to run with them since I was running at about that pace as it was. I was able to stay with him until mile 8 when I stopped to get some water. The pacer really helped me get back on track as far as knowing an approximate time.

Last year, I began to break down at mile 10 and ended up walking half of the Mill Ave bridge. I was gassed and not happy about it. This year, I was tiring but determined to not walk the bridge. I took a quick walk break after the timing mat at 10 miles and was able to run the rest of the way. I did walk briefly through the water stop at 12.

The result. I ran over the bridge. Yippee! I crossed the finish line and knew that I had a PR. I did not know by how much. The clock said 2:39 and my watch 2:41. I knew that the 2:15 pacer could not have been to far ahead of me because I did not walk that much and was running at his pace.

Just after I crossed the finish, I saw my MIL shouting my name. This was nice.

Nothing

I got a chance to speak to a few friends that finished right about my time for a few minutes and headed for food, chip removal, pictures etc.

I could not find my MIL so I walked to the family reunion area to relax and wait for Shelley to finish the full. I saw Shelley at 26.1 and gave her a high five before she made the last turn.


I'm slowly improving my times. I truly think my asthma limits my oxygen intake and affects my performance.


I am really excited to improve my PR by eleven minutes. The day was perfect for me. I knew the course better which allowed me to race differently this year. Elite does an excellent job of organizing large races.