Notes
The wind was just ridiculous and the last 6-8 miles of this were just one giant F-bombfest in my head. At dinner either Friday or Saturday night, Angela had mentioned that when you went through the military base at around 15-19 that Garmin pace would get wonky but not to worry about it, it had something to do with satellites, etc. I first started seeing 9+ minute miles in that area which didn't please me but since I had been forewarned I didn't make a big deal out of it, especially since I seemed to be either staying with or passing people and not getting passed much. I kept wondering what pace I was actually doing and hoped to get back to normal signals soon even though this was one of the few areas that offered some respite from the relentless head/crosswinds. There was one point around 19.5-20ish where I looked down at my watch at saw 8:15-8:30 pace and thought COOL!, but shortly thereafter it was right back above 9. I went into this with the following goals:
A: sub 3:50
B: sub 3:55
C: sub-4
By this time I was pretty deep in the pain cave. I pressed on and just wondered when we would get a fucking tailwind for a change! We had one for the first 6-7 miles of the race and never again. It was either headwind or crosswind the entire 20 remaining miles. I could see the sub-4 slipping away and I was gonna be damned if I let that happen. Around mile 23 I went even deeper into the pain cave. I told myself it's only another 5k, less than half an hour and that I could do this. I am a marathoner and I NEVER EVER GIVE UP. The conditions actually took out 2 pacers over this day. I ended up passing the 3:40 or 3:45 pacer around mile 22-23 and I know the 4:00 pacer went at least 4:15-4:20. ended up getting my sub-4 by about 90 seconds. Hardest thing I've ever done for sure, but also the most rewarding. It was so great to see the team on the sidelines a couple of tenths from the end, gave me a badly needed shot of adrenaline.