started out nice and easy. hit my splits very nicely for the first three miles. knew mile 3 and 4 would be fast. settled back down after that. felt small cramp in left calf at mile 9 1/2. things started to snowball. first walked at about 19 1/2 miles. real struggle after that. couldn't run more than about 15 steps for last two miles. would not allow myself to finish slower than last year. did beat my time by five minutes. expected to do much better. last year, no cramps, but legs felt like boards after mile 15. this year, lots of spring in my step, mentally stronger, trained harder/better, ran race smarter, but damn cramps did me in. i was well hydrated and it was much cooler than last year. used gel packs this year. just don't understand why cramps were an issue.

i just don't know. maybe all the stars need to align for all to go well.