First mile was very crowded and probably came in around 8:45. My goal was to average 8:00 but I knew I shouldn't try to get back on track early. I was patient and just tried to hold 8's until the turn around. At the turn around I was still feeling pretty good and decided to take it up a notch and try for 7:50 for a few miles and see how it went. Mile 7 felt fine and during mile 8 I thought I was holding a great pace but looked down at my watch to see 8:10. It was then that I knew I was not going to finish well. I tried to get the pace back on track but it was not happening and by mile 9 I was in full suck mode. I embraced the suck and held on to whatever I could but my left ITB was not happy and was affecting my gait. I zoned out from here on but do remember I was barely holding on to 9's for the last couple miles. At around mile 12 I saw an older gentleman on the pavement convulsing with paramedics at his side. I said a prayer for him which was a nice momentary distraction (hope everything turned out ok for him).

Although I had a lot more miles under my belt this year over last the result was the same. I knew my goal of breaking 1:45 was pretty lofty but McMillan said I could do it. Next year there will be more tempo running and even more mileage and I will demolish this year's time.

walked and hydrated


I'm not sure. I thought I had plenty of miles in my legs but perhaps not.