Now that I've had some time to calm down and let my emotions wane of a HORRIFIC race experience; I can look forward to running again.
My mistake was simple, and that of a rookie: I went out way too fast for my current capabilities, and I knew it! At the half, I was five minutes ahead of schedule. This five minutes ended up costing me a minimum of 14 minutes in my finishing time. Around mile 15, I definitely knew I had blown this race. Not only in the elevation profile, but for me personally; it was all downhill from there in a bad way. It was a total crash and burn.
I had hoped to better my time from last year of 3:09:18, but instead it wasn't to be. Oh well, there's always next year!
Aside from falling apart in the second half and missing my time goal, the race was not a complete failure. I really enjoyed running with a couple of other bloggers, and some friends along the way. There was also a break in the rainy weather we had been experiencing and it turned out to be a beautiful day. | 