<p><span lang="en">Trail marathon as my last long run. Sunny, but very cool with a little wind. Perfect conditions. A chance to test my race prep.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Bad news - forgot earphones for mp3 player, minor oops, I‘ll just run without music.</span></p>
<p><span lang="en">Bad news - forgot fanny pak, but with the good conditions just a minor oops, no need to carry water and I will carry my licorice in my gloves.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Good news - everything else. Carbo loading, nutrition, shoes, gear - all good.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">I wasn't sure what time to aim for. My course pr was 4:34. My training has been going well and I thought sub 4:30 - maybe even 4:25 was possible. I would run by feel but try to push when I could. It was chilly at the start line which is a good sign, got in some good stretching and warmup, and had a Gatorade G1 preworkout . The national anthems were played. The starter raised the gun, and nothing. The blank was a dud, but the guy running the chip controller unit had pushed the button and started yelling “RUN“, and we're off.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">The first 7 miles are on paved roads, bike trails, and dirt roads, with only a few minor hills. The first mile has a lot of down hill which means that mile 26 has a lot of uphill. Miles 1,2,3 in 8:00, 8:29, 8:28. Almost 2 minutes a mile faster than my outside goal, but I want to put time in the bank during the easy parts. I ease off a little but try to maintain.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Miles 4,5,6,7 in 9:02, 9:06, 9:04, 8:38. So far so good. But now come 5 miles of hilly trails in the forest. Lots of ups and downs and roots and camber. I start walking the steeper uphills and the aid stations. This section will really determine what kind of race I have.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Miles 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 in 10:47, 11:07, 11:37, 11:22, 10:46. I am pleased with the times and still feeling strong. It looks like 4:25 is possible today. About 5 runners passed me in this section. The old guy in red shorts, the old guy in red white and blue shorts, the husky bald guy who looks like he shouldn't be ahead of me, the gray shirt guy who has broken his foot twice. A brief word of encouragement to each as they passed me, with me muttering under my breath “let’s see how you are doing at mile 24”. Back on the paved trails for the next five miles and I pick up the pace.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Miles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 in 9:38, 9:53, 9:56, 10:09, 9:27. More time in the bank and I’m still feeling pretty good. Another 4 mile segment in the steep hills. Hit half way in 2:06, and thought a 2:14 second half was possible and started thinking about a sub 4:20 finish. Something is wrong with their mat placements. I hit mile 13 in 2:06:03, and the half marathon in 2:06:39. No way did I cover .1 miles in 36 seconds, that’s 6:00 pace.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Miles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 in 10:55, 10:51, 10:41, and 19:28 (21 and 22 combined, I missed the mile 21 marker). Mile 21 was probably around 10:00 and mile 22 was probably 9:30. In this segment of hills I passed 8 runners including all 5 who had passed me in the mile 7-12 segment. Because of the out and back loop I knew that 10 miles later the husky bald guy was now 7 minutes behind me.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">We are on dirt roads for 2 more miles and then 2.2 of city streets. Relatively level except for the half mile steep climb during mile 26. I try to pick up the pace a little and pass a few runners, most who are only jogging sporadically, including the guy who is walking like a penguin, probably from chafing.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">Miles 23, 24, 25, 26 in 9:27, 9:45, 9:32, 9:28, and a .2 in 1:53. I am in no mans land the last 3 miles. I never see the next runner ahead even though there were straightaways I could see a half mile a head, and the runners behind me faded out of sight. Instead of an all out push I just maintain a steady pace and don’t risk a blowup. My watch says 4:17:29. Because of the snafu with the gun at the start my official time will probably be a few seconds slower. It turns out the nearest runner finished 1:30 ahead of me - I would have caught her in one more mile. The nearest runner back was 3 minutes behind me. From mile 17 to the end I passed 13 runners and no one passed me.</span></p>
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<p><span lang="en">A course pr by almost 17 minutes. And I felt like I could run several more miles at a good pace. A great run in good conditions. My 5<sup><span style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup> fastest marathon, only 5 seconds behind # 4. An excellent long run, now it is taper time. Maybe a time trial half next weekend and my target marathon two weeks later.</span></p>
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<p>Only two people negative split the course, including the last place guy who ran 3:19 and 3:10 for a 6:29 finish. I am happy with my 2:06:39 - 2:10:50 splits. I was 28th out of 62. But as usual my age group is loaded and I was 7th out of 8. Reminds me of a half marathon 3 years ago where I finished in 52nd out of 500 entries, but half (26) of the runners ahead were in my age group.</p>
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<p><span lang="en">Good running everybody.</span></p>
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