Notes
Good feeling of accomplishment. Felt good all the way. Heavy distance training, 4 weeks of easy before race, all worked. Complete lifestyle appraoch-stretching, massage, diet, sleeping-all helped, I believe. Weight of 144, a plus. At this moment, don't want to go back but instead, keep uo new lifestyle.
Dave em were great. Got here late thursay. Friday and sat, relaxed. Went to tahoo, beautiful. Issue was on drive back, terrible ear pressure problems which didn't go away. Raced with it but just told myswlf that it shouldn't matter and it didn't.
Saw dave,em like at least 6 times, nice to have cheering and the Chief tshirt. Liked having support from people. Kept me smiling. People laughed as they cheered me and other runners laughed too. Was great. Fun.
At start. Lots of potties, not crowded, great.
Only kept 5 mile splits. Wanted to run 5 sets of 32:30's and whatever left got last mile.
Carried own drink thru 12.
Stayed comfortable off the gun. Relaxed relaxed. Hitting 6:20's. One mile of something quicker but comfortable. I recall thinking at 5 mile mark that I have never felt so comfortable at 5, although it was early. Almost stepped on a dead skunk. saw a guy with a goat. Dave, em were so visible with signs. 5 mile mark:32:10. I think mile 3 or 4 was a little fast. Big elevation drop in first 5. Running through burbs. A guy walking his goat.
Ate a gu at 5. Had planned on doing so after every 5 but I felt bad after this one. Lots of gushing in stomache. Only real worries happened here. Took it relaxed. These five miles are hilly and net flat. Some guy named jeff and I spoke a bit. He commeneted on great support crew. I asked his name. He said "2:50?" I said "that'd be nice" and he nodded. I tailed off him a bit because I felt a little bad and it helped.then I started to recover (digested gu?) and led him for a bit. Big hills on 9_10 went easy and he tailed me. Cool. I decided to eat Gu at 12 and 19, eating one less than planned. 32:30. Right on pace for 2nd 5 mile set. I only had to remember 6:30, 13, 19:30, 26, 32:30. And repeat them. Kept my mind on just that. Didn't worry about total. Tried to push out the idea that "I have 20 seconds to spare" off first 5. Focus on each 5 itself.
Somewhere in 3rd 5 I find myself running with a woman who looks very comfortable. Chatty. Also comments on my support crew. "Who is the chief? And why chief? You get 'chief' and I get: 'go girl'" and when told she could pick off someone and get in top ten women, she says "isn't it a bit early for that?" I think she talked to keep herself relaxed. She was a steady pacer and running within herself, as was I, so we ran together. The course steepest hills passed without much pain. Felt relaxed again. Surprised at how quickly mile markets seemed to approach. I was mentally prepared for the net uphill from 14-15.5. Relaxed and said to myelf "this will likely hurt and slow the pace" but it passed ok, stayed relaxed. 32:15, mostly on pace, I think one mile was 10 seconds fast early in the 5.
Near 15.5, long uphill ends and you turn right onto a long slow downhill. I tossed gloves here and I let myself just run as I felt. Ditched running partner. A different form of relaxed. Relaxed the constarints and ran free. With slow downhill bebfits, ran faster here. There were still some ups, too, bigger than they looked on paper but was ok. When I saw dave'em, less smiley. More concentration. Again, miles passed quickly. At 19ish, relaxed a bit, some faitgue building. Great crowds. School cheering squard yelling Chief. 31:07 for 4th 5. That about 6:13 pace. Great at the mile markers, not only do they give time but someone telling you that your on pace for what time. Remember older guy saying, "your on pace for 2:48 chief"
At 20, I tried to find another gear, it wasn't there. Thought I was tiring but I remember seeing my 1st mile in the 5th 5mile set at 6:09 and saying "holy shit". Very encouraged and I kept at it hard. Once felt a twing in right thigh that frightened me but I kept going hard. Form form. Also, I felt good and focused on that. Only legs heavy. I said "forget clock and how much more, you feel good, go with it" Was passing people which is a mental boost. My female partner zoomed by around 22. She beat me by over 3min, so I am guessing she hauled it in at 5:30 pace, wow, I wasn't slwoing down. I think she was the only person who passed me after the pack settled in the early miles. 31:14. For the final 5 set. A little slower than 4th, 6:15 pace but on flat not the dowmhill benefit.
Hurting on the last mile. Still passing people but struggled a little on the last half mile. Telling myself that sometimes toughness means just holding on. As I turned off the tall lines road, I recognized finishing area from youtube. Went hard across finish to get net time under 2:47. Last 1.2 in 7:43, so 6:28ish pace. Happy as I crossed finish. Got photos. Dave em and tom there.
Happy. I liked finishing in top tier. Today's sac newspaper only listed top 100 and am proud to be 84th and on that list. Met my 08 goal of a new pr. Wonder if that's my last PR. This will be hard to beat, considering the rest of stuff in my life.
Davehad called sonia and the girls throughout and they were cheering from home.I am a content and lucky man.