Notes
Well, that didn't go as planned.
The alarm went off at 4:00am. Actually didn’t feel too bad though. Gotta love the west coast time change and getting great sleep the last couple nights (~10hr on Thursday night, ~9.5hr on Friday). Immediately started eating the usual pre-race breakfast (2 plain bagels and a banana) and started working on a slightly diluted 20oz of blue powerade. Went downstairs to get a cup of coffee, drank it while I geared up, and then back downstairs for another cup of coffee. Made sure I had everything I needed and we headed over to catch the bus just after 5.
The bus line was fairly long and slow moving. Knowing that it was about a 45min trip, I started to get a bit worried about timing, but fortunately, we were loaded up and on our way by 5:30. The bus ride could have been better… still dark outside, completely dark on the bus, and a mix of mellow Christmas songs and talk radio covering anti-breast cancer supplements. At 5:40, I chugged the rest of the powerade, hoping that would time up well and I wouldn’t need to use the bathroom in the first couple miles. Finally, we arrived around 6:15 and I headed over to the elite tent.
I waited through the bathroom line and then went into the tent. I quickly re-tied my shoes and then went out for a brief jog and some leg swings. Got the 15min warning from a volunteer, so I went back to the tent, put my sweats into the gear bag and dropped off the bag. One more time through the bathroom line and then a quick jog over to the start line with about 5min to spare. Re-tied my shoes, listened to the National Anthem, took a gel, and we were off.
I started a few rows back from the start line. Knowing that there would be a number of guys going after the standard, I didn’t want to get pulled out too fast. First mile is mostly downhill, so I just cruised along and looked for a good group to run with. The 3 guys in front of me were talking about running 2:20 high, so I figured I was probably in a good spot. My watch dinged with the first mile split. 5:26, perfect! In the second mile, the rolling hills started. Now, I had heard that this course was rolling in the first half, but this course was ROLLING. Holy shit was it rolling. Everything was either up or down. It took 20 miles before there was a section that could be described as flat. The website might say that it’s the fastest course in the west, but that can’t possibly be the case. But I digress…
Mile 2 split: 5:41. Uh oh. I think I picked the wrong group. I could see a pack of guys a 100m ahead that looked like a better option. Mile 3 and 4 were spent closing the gap. First water stop with bottles was between mile 3 and 4. Candice did a great job of decorating the bottles, I was immediately able to see my bottle and grabbed it without a problem. I hadn’t really ever had bottles at races before, so I was a bit worried how this was going to work, but ok, maybe this bottle stuff is easy. By mile 5, I had reeled in the pack. I was working pretty hard to catch up, so I resolved to just hang onto the back of the pack for a few miles. Overall, the splits weren’t exactly what I was hoping for, but I didn’t think I could go any faster… I wasn’t even sure I could hold on at this pace.
Second bottle table was a little rocky. Someone’s leopard print duct tape looked a lot like my moustache duct tape and I grabbed the wrong bottle. Crap. Quick decision. Should I… A) steal the bottle and drink whatever may be in there or B) turn back, return the bottle, and find mine. I went with B, lost a few seconds, and spent some energy catching back up with the group. Ok, maybe this bottle stuff isn’t so easy.
Went through mile 10 in 55:15. Splits had been on the disappointing side thus far, but I was in the ball park and maybe, just maybe, these hills would end at some point. I even got my third bottle without much trouble. I spent mile 13 leading the pack, but for the most part, had been able to save some energy and sit in the middle of the pack. By the fourth bottle table, the group was down to six. The guy in front of me went for his bottle and knocked mine off the table. Crap. I quickly scrambled over to the other side of the table and snagged the bottle off the road. Still not sure how I was able to bend over for the bottle and not tear something, but hey, I’ll go with it. Double crap. Three of the guys had gapped me during the bottle snafu and the other two didn’t look too good. I went to the front and pushed the pace a bit, but I didn’t have it in me to close the gap.
A really dark patch came around mile 19. My legs had been done for a couple miles, I was now running by myself, and the effort level tipped to the wrong side of the red line. Ugh, forget PRing, am I even going to be able to finish this race? 5th bottle table came up and I didn’t even see my bottle. Oh well, maybe Candice or Paul will see it and use it. A little Gatorade isn’t going to change the outcome of my day anyway.
Mercifully, the downhill kicked in around mile 21 (and general absence of up hills). Ok Ben, you’ll get through this. You don’t know how to quit anyway. Final bottle table was a success and various people having rougher races were coming back to me. Ok, get through this and you never have to run this God forsaken race again. Around 23, a guy on the side of the road yelled “first female closing hard!” Huh, hadn’t even thought about that. Yeah… getting torched by the first female in the closing miles would be a really solid way to round out this day. Just keep moving and see what happens. Ok, remember the streets count down to the final turn. Just take it street by street. Ok, there’s the hotel, half a mile to go, this may actually happen. Ok, final turn, kick it in, it’s almost over.
2:25:34.
Back to the drawing board.
Splits:
Mile 1 – 5:26
Mile 2 – 5:41
Mile 3 – 5:28
Mile 4 – 5:33
Mile 5 – 5:30
Mile 6 – 5:26
Mile 7 – 5:30
Mile 8 – 5:38
Mile 9 – 5:34
Mile 10 – 5:26
Mile 11 – 5:27
Mile 12 – 5:32
Mile 13 – 5:29
Mile 14 – 5:33
Mile 15 – 5:35
Mile 16 – 5:29
Mile 17 – 5:34
Mile 18 – 5:33
Mile 19 – 5:49
Mile 20 – 5:42
Mile 21 – 5:39
Mile 22 – 5:38
Mile 23 – 5:36
Mile 24 – 5:36
Mile 25 – 5:24
Mile 26 – 5:19
Mile 26.2 – 4:54/mi pace