I stated the race with the 3:20 marathon pace group, which would bring me in at a 1:40 half, right where I wanted to be. After the first mile, I felt really good, after the second mile the feeling had faded a little, but it was still there, and I was able to hang with the pace group really well. Around mile 3 our pace leader had to stop at the biffy, so he handed off the "3:20" sign to another runner, who seemed to increase the pace quite a bit since miles 3 & 4 were ran at an average of 7:20/mile, 20 seconds faster than the 7:40's I was planning on running.

At this point I started to look at my HR monitor and seriously wonder when, not IF, but when, my engine would cease up and come to a halt because my LT is 166, and I was readlining all the way through the race. I took a gel at mile 4, and keept on trucking, thinking, if I bonk, well, at least I will know how my body will react to relining for the entire race.

At mile 5 my mom was there taking pictures, so it helped perk me up a little, and around mile 5.5 the 1/2 and full races split. It was now up to me to keep this pace. At anout mile 6.5 my legs started to talk to me saying "you better slow down or you'll be in trouble soon." But like I had already decided to do, I kept on trucking, hopeing, praying that my legs & body would last the full 13.1 miles.

At mile 7 someone had ever so kindly written "I Bonked" on the pavement with chalk. I looked at it and it really made me want to walk, becasue I was really having to tell myslef and play mental games with my self saying that I felt good, and nothing could stop me. When in reality, I felt the exact opposite.

At mile 8 I took another gel, and kept moving. There was a guy that started with the 3:20 group that I was pacing off of. After a while he slowed down, or I sped up, not sure which, and he said "it is your turn to pull"...must have been a biker too :) Well I pulled for a while, but I looked back a little while later and he was no where to be seen, glad I didn't pace to much longer off of him! :)

At mile 9.5 I saw a friend who ran with me a little bit. He asked how I was feeling and I said "my legs feel like shit, but I only have 3.1 miles left to go, so I should be good!"

Mile 11 really suckerd, it was directly into the wind, and when I saw the split of almost 8 minutes, the only thing I could think of was "run you silly bastard, you need to make up those 30 seconds"

Well, over the next mile I just about did. I caught up with a guy who had passed me aboput 2 miles back and it looked like he was starting to stuggle. I took a gel @ mile 12, and I was starting to hear him grown just a little. Luckily for him, I had one more gel in my poket, I took it out and asked him if he wanted it. You would have thought it was a loaf of bread and he hadn't eaten for weeks. I don't think I have ever seen anyone grab a gel and pund it down so fast!! It made me fell good to help him out, but then I realized that I had to kick myself in the ass if I wanted to beat him, since I had just given my at-the-moment arch enemy more power...WHOOPS...oh well, I felt good about doing it. He sprinted out a head of me by about a block and I thought...what the hell, the body has held up, and the end of the race should be just around the corner that just came into sight, so I put the last hammer in the bag down and went for it.

Well, to say I was dissapointed when I came around the corner and the finish line was no where in sight, would be an understatement. I look at my watch and saw that I had about 2 more minutes before I would hit the tape, AND my HR was 175!! YIKES!!! Add to that the fact that I had passed arch enemy #1 just a few yards back and he was determined to stay with me and not be beat.

Well, I had to make a decision, and make one fast, so what did I decide to do...Keep on hammering...I thought, 2 minutes is nothing...I can do it in my sleep...I just didn't think about the fact that I had been hammering at that point for the last 1:36!

I made it around the Fargo Dome and ran down the hill (the only on in the town :) ) to seal the 13th mile at 7:03. I thought HOLY SHIT!!! This will hurt tomorrow. I kept on trucking, crossed the finish line where a kind volunteer asked if I was okay. I looked at him, and could not make my mouth move, so I just nodded yes. He said "Really, becasue you looked like you were going to fall over coming across that mat" I guess it was obvious how I felt, because I REALLY wanted to curl up in a corner and puke my brains out!

I managed to stay on my feet, grab some water and Gatorade and take my Recover Ease (Thanks Dan!!) like it was candy...YUM YUM!!

Not really sure since this is a new PR by 4 minutes...I don't think there is much I could have done differently

walked around for about 20 minutes, got a massage, and jogged back to my car. Then stretched for about 10 minutes