There were a lot of bloggers at the race today. We took the top seven places for the men. I warmed up about 2 miles before getting on the bus, and after the ride up South Fork Canyon I ran just a little more before the start. Mile: 1 - 4:50 - I took off and after 1/2 mile I was pretty much alone for the rest of the race. This first mile was pretty steep heading down, but the first few miles do roll a decent amount while they head down, so it is not a straight descent. 2 - 4:52 (9:42) - Pretty much the same as the first mile 3 - 5:11 (14:53) - This mile still has a net descent, but there are some uphill sections thrown in that slow it down a bit. 4 - 5:06 (19:59) - Similar to mile 3, but with more descent. Around this point I start to feel it just a little. I don't think it was a big deal, but I might have pounded it a bit too hard coming down the canyon. The pace was on target through this point, but I misjudged how much the pounding would take out of me.
5 - 5:16 (25:15) - about the first .1 heads downhill before exiting South Fork Canyon. Then, it flattens out for a bit before beginning a gradual climb for the rest of the mile. Based on my split, I probably pushed it too hard during this mile. 6 - 5:22 (30:37) - At the beginning of this mile the grade gets steeper and stays that way for about 3:00 or so. After this, it starts heading back downhill again until you hit the mile marker. I probably pushed it too hard going uphill on this mile as well. 7 - 5:02 (35:39) - Downhill almost the entire way except for a small rise as you get on the river trail. I think that this mile was about where it should have been. I also took a gu about halfway through this mile just to test it out. 10 - 16:01 (51:40) - the mile markers at miles 8 and 9 were misplaced, so I am not counting those miles, but I was timing quarter mile splits off and on, and they were almost all right around 1:20 (5:20 pace). This holds true to the 3 mile split as it is only 1 second slower than 5:20 pace. I felt like I should have been able to run these miles faster, but for some reason I just couldn't push myself any more than I was. I felt like I could hold the pace forever but could not go any faster. I think that it has something to do with pushing the pace a little too hard while going uphill earlier in the race. 13.2 - 17:15 (1:08:55) - I made it to the 11 mile mark before they got the marker out, and I don't know if they had 12 or 13 mile markers. Anyhow, I knew were the 11 mile mark was supposed to be, and based on my estimation I still held 5:20 pace for that mile. I started hurting at about 10.5 but it was fine holding the pace for the next .5. However, from 11 miles to the finish I was really hurting. Based on the time I averaged about 5:25 over the last 2.2 miles and I probably was going slower during parts of those miles as I sped up shortly before the finish. The course was a bit long, and pretty much everyone I talked to was getting readings right around 13.2 miles so I will count it at that length. My official time was 1:07:59 and I wish that I ran that fast, but the official timing started late as I had myself much slower and everyone else did too. Dave Holt came in second, a little over a minute behind me. Sasha came in third, and Adam Wende came in fourth, followed by Chad, Walter, and Steve to round out the top seven sweep by the bloggers.
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