Felt great. From a nutrition standpoint, I only had 1 gel at about 45 minutes in and didn't see any gels on the course but that didn't seem to bother me. I was also a bit curious to see how the GasX treated me and it did it's job without causing any cramps or anything.

After runninig slow at the start, Matt and I settled into about an 8 minute pace. My HR stayed right around 160 which was a tad higher than I wanted, but my legs felt great. After turning around at Fitzsimmons, I could feel the finish line pulling me in, but I still had a ways to go. We spotted a couple rabbits and let them pull us along. We noted a girl ahead of us in a blue skirt and shirt who appeared to be running very easily and holding a right at or below a sub 8 min/mile pace so we stayed with her for couple miles. After holding it for most of the race, Matt stopped to pee (typical) at mile 10. At this point, we were roughly 1:23 into the run. I knew he'd be busting his ass to catch me so this is where the race began.

I loosened my stride and the girl in the blue skirt was long gone. I was actually shocked at how good I suddenly felt. Apparently I had fallen into a lazy shuffle and changing gears was just what the Dr ordered. I passed virtually everyone I saw from this point on. I had found "the zone" and was still managing to hold back a bit so I didn't blow up. Reeling in one runner after another, my legs turned over on their own. I passed an older man who decided to run with me for a few seconds but that was the only person that attempted to stay with me. With 2 miles left I let me legs go a bit more and with a mile left I was seriously pressing the pace. We entered the park and I upped it another notch hoping not to puke. I had a lady in site about 200 meters from the finish but she heard me coming and she picked up her pace. I was all in though and couldn't catch her before the finish.

Looking at my watch, I PR'd by 7 minutes. NICE!

Nothing

Slow race start