Notes
HOT. and HILLY. but, actually quite fun overall. Beautiful course with lots of shade & friendly volunteers with water for drinking & cooling off. the pool party afterwards was the best idea ever!!! every summer race needs a finish-line at or near an outdoor pool. :)
not a PR for me, but I felt great about my effort & pace. most of the time. My last two miles were the weakest...but it's hard to say if that would have changed if I had "saved" some energy earlier on (I truly doubt it would have mattered.)
mile 1: 7:04 thanks to the loooooooooong down hill descent. after a very slow funnel through the constipated starting line.
2: 7:50
3: 8:14
4: 8:18
5: 7:33
6: 8:26
7: 8:43 (HUGE nasty hill. made all the others look like wimpy rollers.)
8: 8:05 (thank God that what goes up must also come down...at least for now)
9: 8:15
10: 8:46 (trail...a bit harder/slower than asphalt)
11: 8:38
12: 8:56
13: 9:57 forget what I said about mile 7. this climb was the granddady. really UGLY. I "ran" every step, but did not go much faster than those who chose (wisely) to walk it.