My coach wanted to gather HR data for me from this race. The plan was to run as hard as I could for 1 hour and collect the average HR. He would then figure out my zones from the splits and HR data. Problem was, I ended up in the lead for the first 3 miles. I realized that other than the guy drafting off me, no one else was within .5 miles. I made the decision at that point to back off the plan and try to hold onto a podium spot. I let drafting dude (Chad, I learned later) pass me at that point, with the intent of drafting off him for a while. Problem was, he had no intention of following my revised plan. He actually had the audacity to want to win this race! And boy did he, he sped up as he passed me and I couldn't match his pace for long. He ended up pulling way ahead of me and I could never close the gap. My goal at this point was to hold onto second. I knew third was about .5 miles behind me because I saw him after the turn around. All I had to do was hang on and not blow up. The hot spot on my left foot that I had been babying since mile 5, blew up into a full fledged blister around mile 9. Oh crap, life was going to suck for the next 4 miles. Luckily, I had enough of a lead that I could hold on until the end.

Not wear those damn speedsters. I forgot I had the same problem the last time I wore them in a half.

There were not enough water stations, I counted 3 and 1 of them only handed out water in one direction.