Hey all..Thanks.. Erica--not a PR..but my best in over a year--since Dayton '07. My PR was in Vegas 06--my 2nd race. Toughest conditions of any of the marathons..WIndy as all sin. That was 5:04 ish..but I plan to kill that this year. I will hopeully be in as good shape as I was for that one and with a much better plan. All in all Im pleased. Given my current base, thats probably about as good as I could have done. The run walking worked great. Got me till about mile 23 before I really started to struggle. First few miles were tough--my ankles and shins burned. Then I settled in. I was ahead of the 5 hour pace and distancing myself by a pretty good shot. Was on pace for a 4:45 half way through. aybe if I had slowed it down a bit, I would have had more left at the end. I was starting to lose ground to the 5 hour goal before mile 18-19--but that was the uphill stretch--actually they changed the course and that didnt seem nearly as bad as in the past. Love the course now. I ran a good mile 20 and got the gap back to 5 minutes from about 3..but eventually the pace team caught me-my legs were very heavy-wanna say mile 22-23 was when the pace team got to me--better than mile 17 or whatever last time. As you can see from the timesshan posted--my last 16 were at about a 15 minute pace Moist of that time was eaten up in the last two. Its a shame too..Those last 4 miles are almost all downhill. But I was not feling good. My stomach was off and I was just a bit lightheaded. All in all though I think I hydrated well--stuck with gatorade and cut back on my gus--but felt better and didnt cramp--I think I had been overhydrating. So, 1/2 hour better than last month. I'll take another 1/2 hour less in Vegas. If the weather cooperates its setup for a good time. Almost no hills. Other notes. DOnt have good mile times--my dw got me a running watch for our anniversary--I realized at the race it only holds 10 laps. So I meant to lap it every 3 miles--but apparently forgot to do this near the end. But, I was very consistant for the first 18. I dont run for the shirts--good thing--this was the worst ever. Worse than the infamous 06 vegas shirt. Cheap t, painted on graphic. Very small for large size--tight in the arms. I think last year they gave a t shirt at the expo and a tech shirt at the end..but nothing this time. Expo was fine..but they routed you past all the vendors to get your stuff..and you had to pass them on the way out too. No one was stopping to shop until they got their stuff anyhow. And I typically like to get glasses with the race logo--and they had none. Good food at the end. I camped out by the ice cold orange slices and had about 5 of those. I felt really good after a nap. Just a bit sore..Feeling a little worse now. But no chaffing . Stopped on the way home and got a chocolate shake, large coke ( i only drink regular coke after races) a burger and fries..couldnt eat the burger and fries. But the sugar was pure goodness.

Anybody awake? I ran 8 miles yesterday

YEAH MURPHY!!!! Sounds like it all went well which is great! and half an hour difference is huge! So what's the plan for the next one? Bugs - good point! Peach - nice job! Cash - teaching huh?? That is pretty cool! 18 miles is still beating me!!