Notes
Wow that was tough. Lots of hills, most of them not big, but just one after another making it tough to get in a rhythm, at least when you aren't used to them. Cruised the flat sections but definitely slowed down alot on the hills. The first 30 or so miles were easy, didn't feel fatigued. By about mile 35 my quads started screaming about the downhills. I think I may have made my situation a lot worse because I was deliberately breaking on the downhills from the beginning to take it easy on the Anterior Tib.
At horseriders (mile 37) went the wrong way and added probably at least an extra 1/2 mile. By 40 my quads were pretty much trashed. Although I felt like I still had aerobic energy, I couldn't get the legs to go. I kept stopping, forcing myself to run again, only to stop again between miles 43-48. What kept me going during these miles was passing a couple of guys that had been in the lead (probably at least 30 minutes ahead of me at the half). That and telling myself I couldn't let anyone pass me. At 48 it got flat and I managed to pick up the speed. It was amazing how much easier (relatively speaking) I could run on the flats when the quads weren't screaming. The AT tendon never really got out of control, there were stretches where I thought it was going to become a problem, but somehow it always receded to a point where pain was just a dull ache.
I also did not great on fueling, only 10 gels, some miscellaneous food, and filled up the camelbak with twice. Totally forgot the drop bag at aid station 2. Supposedly it was windy, but I didn't really feel it. Rain was light, never heavy until after I was finished and I couldn't complain about trail conditions, they were very good overall.
I was surprised at how long the race felt, even 16 miles in I was thinking it felt like a really long time. This had never been a problem during my training runs. Maybe this was because I was worried about the tendon until I got to a point it really didn't matter, around mile 45.
Added 5 mile splits from Sportracks:
Time Distance Split time Split distance Split pace
0:43:07 5.00 43:07 5.00 8:37
1:27:20 10.00 44:13 5.00 8:51
2:14:27 15.00 47:07 5.00 9:25
3:00:44 20.00 46:16 5.00 9:15
3:49:29 25.00 48:45 5.00 9:45
4:38:06 30.00 48:36 5.00 9:43
5:27:45 35.00 49:38 5.00 9:56
6:19:45 40.00 52:00 5.00 10:24
7:15:46 45.00 56:00 5.00 11:12
8:09:18 50.00 53:32 5.00 10:42
8:10:52 50.18 1:33 0.18 8:37