Notes
My plan was to stay with the lead pack until mile 14 (right after the Green Briar hill when you start the loop the second time). For miles 15-16 I was going to surge to hopefully drop everyone so that I would have the lead biker to myself as I went through Pheasant Branch and had to dodge all of the half marathoners and marathoners. Then I would surge again along airport road (mile 23) and then cruise to the finish.
The pace was fairly slow with a first mile in 6:15 then a series of ~6:20-6:35 miles as 4 of us were in the lead pack. I believe at 13 I was at 1:23:50. At 14 I put in my surge (down to ~5:40 miles) and did drop everyone. But then only a quarter mile or so into Pheasant Branch one of the guys caught back up. At this point I realized I was in for a race. We pushed at ~6:00 miles through Pheasant Branch, dodging the other runners. The lead biker did his best to clear a path but those listening to headphones couldn't hear him. He fell on one of the slippery boardwalks (he was okay) so we went a half mile or so with the lead biker behind us.
Upon exiting Pheasant Branch (mile 20) I maintained the pace but the other guy started to slowly fall back. I continued to gain on him to the end, eventually winning by 2 minutes. Along airport road I did try to push a bit, but was feeling pretty tired. For the last 3 miles my calves started to cramp but I held it together to the finish.
First half: ~1:24:33 (6:27 pace)
Second half: ~1:16:54 (5:52 pace)
This was a harder effort than I was hoping to have to do, but after the race I felt pretty good. It will be interesting to see what my recovery is like. Until putting in my surge at 14 I felt pretty logy. I was worried I wouldn't have the next gear today but once I started pushing I felt good. I had no aches or pains and no UC issues.
Prep: I was up a little before 5 to do the same prep routine as for the Madison Garden Marathon and my 10 mile MP last weekend (coffee, beet juice, run, ice, enema, acetaminophen, immodium, gel). Saturday night I had cheese pizza and breadsticks and was done eating by 5pm.
Nutrition:
3 endurolytes starting around 15, powerade (tasted weak) at every aid station (about every 1.5 miles), caffeine pill at mile 12.
Weather: Nearly perfect. Start temperature was low 40s warming into the low 50s by the end. I felt the wind more than I expected as the forecast said only ~3 mph. I wore socks on my hands until about mile 10. By mile 20 I was dumping water on my head at each aid station. It probably could have been 5 degrees cooler to be perfect, but this was close enough.
I won a pint glass, a hat, a mug, some candy bars, and a $500 endurance house gift card.