The fueling began with the pasta dinner at the Brandin' Iron on Friday night.
Race morning was pretty chilly. The ride in from Pine Valley was great as I was able to get an extra hour of sleep or so. I was excited for this year as Carrie was running for the first time. We arrived at the start and found a place to wedge ourselves for the start. Enjoyed the shout out from Ed Rogers as we entered the start area.
The first few miles just kind of flew on by as I enjoyed the morning running with Carrie, Jeff, and Camille. Finally decided to drop off my warm clothes at Veyo. The pace was nice and brisk before we hit the hill. I was really looking forward to the pit stop at Louise and she didn't disappoint. Loved the gatorade and gummy bears. I was my own aid station for the next few miles. I had to stop off at the portapotties for a minute so to catch up with Carrie and crew took a bit of extra effort; however, it felt good.
Coming into mile 13 was great. I felt good and was ready to get a negative split. I kept plugging along and really enjoyed the downhill. After around the mile 15 my foot and heel began to really act up and it slowed me down. I kept with Jeff and just tried to ignore the shooting pain on each step. I started looking forward to mile 19 aid station as I had a drink in the waiting. I was thrown off a bit as mile 19 was changed up and there was some aid station at the top of that hill and then our ward was pushed down to closer to mile 20ish. I did get my drink and it was great. I found some more ibuprofen in hopes to reduce some pain - no luck.
The rest of the mileage up to entering town was filled with stops to get calves rubbed with icy hot and just pushing through. Jeff and I kept it going and wanted to hit 4:15 (which was doable at that time). We came to town and I found the kids which was great since that meant I had little over 2 miles left. Jeff was feeling spry and left me to try and make the 4:15. I had to adjust and try for under 4:20. Loved the coke at the Ipsons; however, I should guzzle it as the carbonation started to rumble.
It was exciting to have Eddie and the PV Pep band roust out the fight song as I turned the corner heading into the last mile. For the finish line, I enjoyed the different shout outs from friends coming down the chute. I picked up the pace a bit to get that darn thing done. Finished with a 4:19. That will do considering the day.
I got my ice cream and waited for Carrie and Camille to finish. Off to round up the junk and start the recovery. Good times.
(Glycerin 10: 54.5)
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