I wasn't expecting anything fantastic. I was going to skip the whole damn thing and take a mini vaca but I decided to run and just concentrate on finishing. My runs lately have been few and far between and every run includes several instances where it feels like my heart goes out of rhythm or I'm having a panic attack and then I get a surge of lactic acid and have to stop.
I started slow and just ran what felt comfortable. I didn't push at all to start with. After a few miles I was surprised at how good I felt. It was a pleasant surprise. I started feeling hungry around mile 5 and realized I left my Hammer Gel in the car so I grabbed a Gu at mile 6 and held it until mile 8 aid station. I felt a big difference and it was welcomed. With 4 miles to go I was still feeling good and just tried to keep my pace steady. About a mile to go I picked a girl to try to pick off a little ways ahead. I caught her and she wasn't letting me pass so I was about to give up on that until she told me to go ahead. I was feeling pretty dead so I told her to go for it. She said she couldn't so I decided to go for it.
All things considered, I feel good about my effort.
9:28, 9:08, 9:02, 8:44, 8:06, 8:28, 8:50, 8:44, 9:02, 8:44, 9:07, 8:38, 8:38, 1:11(.16)
8:48 ap | 