Notes
So we got warmed up and headed to the line. Mark and I were both in the Top 100 start corral and the elites started 5 minutes before us. We ended up right on the line for the gun. It was warm at the start, but not nearly as bad as last year.
We hit the mile around 6:05 or so. (I will enter splits later). We settled into a nice groove just like old times and had the miles clicking off. My hammy pain creeped up on me at mile 3 and I thought that I was going to have trouble with it the whole race, but I ran through it and really didn't feel it again until just before 26. We saw the girls quite a bit on the course which helped alot with the motivation. Also, the crowd was really supportive of the NCC jersey. I wouldn't have traded that thing for gold the second half of the race. I swear I heard go North Central every 50 meters the whole way.
The race unfolded pretty well for both of us. I felt awesome at 10 miles and thought i could run that pace all day long. We were averaging a little faster than Mark initially wanted to, but it felt good so we kept with it. I think we were running 6:10 pace through the half and i thought we had a shot to get under 2:42. We kept hitting the miles right around 6:20 through about 19 and Mark said he wanted to tackle the last hour on his own. Right then a guy said we were in 205th place which was a lot higher than i thought we were. I used that for motivation the last 10K and tried to pick off as many people as i could. I ended up passing about 40 people from 19 to 25, including Jack at mile 23. Mile 25 seemed to go on forever and i swear i was running 8 minute pace. I checked the watch and it was a 6:39 so i was still holding it together. Mile 26 was the longest mile i have ever run in my life. I thought for sure it was going to be 10 minutes easy. I was able to keep my legs moving up the last hill as my hammy started to go. I hit 26 at 7:01 and cruised it in to the finish.
My legs were on fire, but the worst part of the race was the cramping i had in my stomach. I was trying to stay hydrated and i think i got a little too much liquid in my belly a couple of times. I was happy with the effort today and glad to see Mark gut it out and post a very solid time as well. I had a great time running with him for the first 2 hours of the race and really took in some of the "experience" that i usually miss.
Time for me to get my legs fixed and get back to training so i can go after that elusive sub 2:30.