Set my watch for a 5:30 pace and stuck to that for about 10k and then started to fade. Had water at every aid station, but never stopped, except after 14k. Walked briefly there, then again four times. By that time my average pace was at just under 6. And I was having trouble with my leg flexibility. I should have had some Tylenol to take.
Had a sip of gel from the flask every half hour or so, maybe had a total of 2.5 gels.
Had a couple of good bursts of constant speed, but couldn't sustain them. At 19k mark I looked at my Garmin and saw that it was 1:51...Crap! I knew the goal of under two was gone.
Made the decision there and then to let it all out and ramp up the speed.
If you look at the pace graph: http://connect.garmin.com/page/activity/activity.faces;jsessionid=B...
You will see that at the 20k mark my speed starts to really increase:
4:33 at 20.84 k...at the finish line I was going 3:07min/k. I passed scads of people and finished strong.
It wasn't the race I wanted to have, but I still drew out some strengths and had a great day.

Wore tech undershirt and long sleeve and tights and gloves. Too hot. I ditched the gloves, but probably should have had shorts.
I am torn on the subject of speed. If I wanted to go faster, I should have done more speed work.
In the back of my mind, I'm still training for the Marathon in a few weeks, so this result is pretty good.

1k run to loosen up.
Eat greasy, starchy food, lots of coffee and chat with friends.


overheating. Lack of speed work.
Distance was a cinch. It was the pace I picked.


MarkZ said it best. If every race was a PB, then PBs wouldn't have the same meaning.
Wise words.
I learned more about myself during this race. This is the first long race I ever did many years ago and it continues to teach me things.
This was a good race to help put my athleticism and my commitment to things beyond multisport into perspective.

Here's the link for the Garmin data and course description:
http://connect.garmin.com/page/activity/activity.faces;jsessionid=B...