Had some friends over for pasta feed last night to get carbo-loaded and it really worked. Weather was drizzly and showery and some rain toward the end of the race. About 45 degrees so nice that way. Not too much wind. Target pace was 7:30...went out and got stuck at a 7:15 pace and thought to myself "hey, maybe I can do this". No! Bad idea...just tried to run easy but by mile 4 it was not easy but also not killing me. Got passed a few times...the annoying part was an older guy who had to be over 60 who had a weird running gait...I just could not catch him at the end of the race...he beat me by maybe 10 seconds. 7:24 pace was better than I ever expected all though this week instead of full plan running I scaled back so as not to die during the race. Splits:7:13, 7:19, 7:13, 7:19, 7:28, 7:25, 7:29, 7:28, 7:18, 7:31, 7:14, 7:27, 7:04, 6:47(.21 miles) by missing tangents I added a tenth of a mile...garmin says I had a 7:19 pace.
Beautiful scenery and some way gorgeous homes out at the turnaround...didn't realize that I knew some people out there and they ended up cheering me on which really helped. Enjoyed the Mariachi bands and any music as I forgot to bring my mp3. My buddy Mark beat me by about 30 seconds or so...I had him in my sights the whole time...Finished 4th in my AG so one of these days I will get some hardware. Had my wife bring a gallon of chocolate milk to share and boy was it ever GOOD! After a long race there is nothing better than thick rich sweet chocolate milk! Made some new friends and had a great time(other than my lungs bursting for over an hour). Sean really had it set up very well at the high school in the gym...no waiting lines for anything. Next up- Newport Marathon in 5 weeks!
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