I had set a goal of breaking two hours for this race. I knew that if I stayed focused, ran my own race, only stopped for very short walking breaks, and didn't have to have a potty break, then I could do it! I had told Raegan not to run with me, and had told Kelley and Maurice that if we lost each other than we would meet up at the finish line.

Raegan was out of sight within the first quarter mile. I had started off keeping my eye on where Kelley and Maurice were, because we got split apart right away. But then I told myself if I kept trying to find them then I was just going to waste too much energy, so I stopped. I got into a nice zone and just ran. i had worn my water belt so that I wouldn't have to stop at the aid stations. i can't stand to stop at them. I prefer to drink when I want to and not have to wait for when it is available. I had my gu in a gel flask, so it was rather hard getting it to come out, since it had thickened up. So, every time I took in some gu, I walked for a few seconds, and then I would run while washing it down with my water. I heard John (jcagg90) call out my name towards the top of the hill at mile 6. It's always nice to have people cheer you on- thanks, John! It was around mile 7 that i started to notice how dead my left hand felt. I could barely move my fingers, so for the rest of the race, i would occasionally shake out my hands and arms and try to wiggle my fingers to keep the blood flow going. Aside from a few twinges in my ankle and an occasional one in my knees, I felt really good!

I wish the mile markers would have been more visible. I'm not sure if i just missed most of them or if they were just nonexistant, but I hardly saw any. And my watch was of no help for distance, because at the 10 mile marker, my watch said 10.85 miles. (By the end of the race, my watch showed I ran 14.37 miles!) So, at 10 miles, I assessed my time and knew that I had a good chance of breaking 2 hours, because I was at 1:31. When I got to the stage where they were calling out "1 mile to go!" I was determined to give it my all. Soon after that point, all of a sudden someone yells right in my ear, and nearly made me jump out of my skin! I turned to find out it was Maurice and I then looked on the other side of me and there was Kelley. I really had no idea that they were behind me. It took a while for me to get my hr back down to where it was and to recover from my heartattack ;), but once I did I then had to try to keep up with Kelley and Maurice for that last mile, which wasn't easy. That mile lasted FOREVER!!!! That had to have been the longest mile ever! By the time we got to the finish line, I had nothing left in me. I felt like I was just about to pass out. I remember being in a daze for a minute or two and someone wrapping the foil blanket around me. Then, I finally snapped out of it and regained consciousness. :) I ran that last mile in under eight minutes, which I am proud of. I expect that in a shorter race, but not in a half mary! :)



Nothing1 I think I ran it the best that i could!

Kelley, Maurice, and I then heaed down the chute. They sat in the beer tent, while I stood for a long time waiting to get my bag at the bag drop off. I talked with Craig for a little bit while I waited. He was about to leave and get in a swim wkout! It made me even colder just thinking about it! Kelley and Maurice got tired of drinking the beer ;) and came looking for me. I was still waiting for my bag. People finally just started going in and getting their own bag, so that's what i did too. Fortunately, Raegan and I both had our cell phones, so we were able to find each other pretty quickly inside the AAC. All of us found a table to camp out at. Since, Raegan had already changed and eatened, he searched down some food for me while I sat. Isn't he sweet!!! :) I did change into some dry clothes, but I was still freezing sitting there.

While i was sitting there and Raegan, Maurice, and Kelley were off getting some more food, a couple of guys sat down and we were just chatting about the food. Then, Raegan comes over and sits down and one of the guys points at him and says, "Raegan Gill." Come to find out it was a fraternity brother from college and his brother that sat down by us. Again...what a small world! We also found out that Chris (fraternity bro) and Brian (Chris' brother) are also BTers- karhooligan and bkarhu. So, we chatted with them for a bit before they had to head out. K,M,R, and I then deicied that we should be getting home, too, since we had K and M's daughter's bday party to go to that afternoon. Oh, the best part of the warm-down was stopping at Starbuck's on the way home! Peppermint mocha- yum!!!!! :)


It must be because I wasn't born with a lot of the fast twitch muscle fibers and the natural abilities of an elite runner! ;)


The only complaint would be the organization of the bag drop off area. That definitely is in need of some improvement!