Notes
Summary of the run, went out fast, got hot in the afternoon and lost stomach slowed down and got to the point where I could speed walk but couldn't run. Or so I thought, until mile 87.3 when Don Riley dropped his duties at the aid station and ran me in. It was an eye opener. He diagnosed my issue, I had slunched over putting pressure on my hips which causes all my leg lock up issues in later miles. He had me straiten up, walked then ran backwards for a bit. Going backwards made me run on toes which really stretched out all the tightness in my legs. When I turned around forward and started running it felt so much better. He also had me try different gaits. Slow quick, then strides for a short stretch to lengthen the stride, we called it sprinting but it is all relative. Just to change things up. He had me get my calorie intake going. He told me the cutoff for the next aid station (Brunswick) which was 3.1 miles away was 9am, actually it was 9:45 but I believed him. This made me have to run for my life which is just what I needed. We would run to that tree and then walk. Once I got the legs moving it actually felt better to run than walk. I had walked most of mile 40-87 and had enough of walking.
We passed about 8 people in those last 13 miles. I went from literally dead last, to dead last minus 8. I was so happy with how strong I finished. We would literally come up to someone and I would pick up the pace and fly by so they wouldn't try to lock on. Don and I are both a little competitive. It made a fun game out of it.