Notes
Because I was already Bq'd for 2010, I tried to PR this, see how close to 3:10 I could get. The weather was very cold, so my thinking was that I could run faster in the cold. I felt very good through most of this race, crossing the halfway point in 1:36:37, a 7:22 pace that would have had me finishing in 3:13:14 without a surge at the end. Splits were: 5 K -23:29; 10K- 45:46; 15K-1:08:34; 20K- 1:31:36; 25K- 1:54:44; 30K- 2:18:07; 35K- 2:42:17; 40K- 3:07:51. By the 19th mile or so my pace had only slowed to a 7:24 pace, and by mile 22 my overall pace stood at 7:27. At this point however, though I was not breathing hard or feeling tired, my legs really began to contract more slowly and running became a lot more difficult. The temperature at that point was around 36 degrees or so, and all I had on was a short sleeve technical top and a pair of gloves. I slowed considerably at the end, with my pace the last 4 and half miles slowing to @8:21. When I finished the race I ended up in the medical tent, wrapped in hot blankets, getting an IV for 30 minutes while they warmed my body temp up from 94.5 back up to 98.6. The IV really works magic, as I felt completely refreshed afterwards. I don't know if it was hypothermia or just me not being fit enough to run a PR, it's hard to tell, though I had not felt that sensation before of my legs simply not moving. I have had pain, cramps, been out of breath near the end, but nothing like this before. Even so, I was only off last year's PR time by 12 seconds, and I BQ'd again so it was a success.