Jose's Flat Foot Blues

Better late than never.  Here is my Boston 2011 race report:

I have been conditioned to temper my expectations about things that are hyped, advertised, and loudly lauded.  I’m thinking of things like summer blockbuster movies, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, Black Friday deals, Fireworks on the 4^th of July, theme parks, most Marathon Expos and their related activities, and a myriad of other activities/experiences.  While these have enriched my life they have fallen short of their hype and advertisements in one way or another.  I fully expected that this would be the case with the Boston Marathon.  I was wrong.  The Boston Marathon experience exceeded my expectations.   It stands up to the hype and blows it out of the water.

My wife and I decided to make the trip a vacation.  This was both a wonderful and a fateful decision.  Wonderful because we got to spend two sunny days at Newport, RI prior to spending time in Boston during marathon weekend.  Fateful because I did not adjust my race plan to account for the fatigue on my feet from two days walking through Newport Mansions and one entire day at the Expo and downtown Boston.  Needless to say by mile 22 my feet had had it and I posted a fairly slow 3:23 on race day.  But more on that later.  We probably should have planned on Newport for after the race but I figured that my wife deserved a good experience without having to drag a post-marathon-trauma disabled husband.  I would not have made it to Boston without her patience and support.  So the Newport trip was non-negotiable and very enjoyable. 

The Expo on Saturday was also non-negotiable.  This could be my only Boston and I was determined to experience as much of the Expo as possible.  I picked up my bib number and bag of goodies and took the obligatory pictures.  Absolutely love the shirt this year.  Very nice.  Wow, pretty much every retailer in the running world was there.  I loved all the free food and the Runner’s Seminar series.  I attended two of these.  One was a course introduction by Dave McGillivray and the Course Director.  These guys did an awesome job and I was able to get Dave’s autograph on my Boston book by Higdon.  The next seminar was advice by the editors of Runner’s World who included Amby Burfoot, Bart Yasso, Mark Remy and others.  At this session I got autographs from Amby Burfoot, who won the Boston Marathon in 1967, and from David Willey who is the Editor-in-Chief of Runner’s World Magazine.  The seminars were awesome and everyone was very nice and personable.  As far as the retailers go I purchased a hat from Adidas and shirts from New Balance.  I already had bought the Official Adidas jacket from Running Warehouse.  I was also able to play around with the new Garmin 610 GPS watch which will probably be my next watch.  I would say New Balance had the best apparel at the expo.  They had a good presence at the marathon throughout. 

So that took most of that day then we went and had lunch/dinner at the Prudential center where I met Neil from Pennsylvania.  Neil was about to run his 45^th straight Boston Marathon.  He holds the record for the most Bostons run consecutively.  To put it in context, he ran the marathon in 1967 when Amby Burfoot won.  He was the nicest guy and provided me with some good race wisdom.  After that we went to the finish line and took 200+ pictures (it felt like my wedding).  We then took the T back to Cambridge got our rental car and drove to Hopkinton where we took 200 more pictures.  Finally we drove the course and went back to my brother-in-law’s in Cambridge.

Sunday we returned the rental and then took the T to Old South Church on Boylston where we attended the Blessing of the Runners service that the Church of Christ puts together.  They did a really good job and it was a bonus that it was Palm Sunday so the sermons and ceremony were extra special.  We then took the T and met up with Smooth, Rhett and other bloggers and attended our church in Cambridge (that’s 4 hours of church for me on that Sunday!). 

Needless to say I was dog meat by the time I got back to my brother-in-law’s house on Sunday.  Reason would tell any intelligent person that an adjustment in the race plan is warranted.  However, since I am an idiot I decided to stick to my original plan.  This plan called for a conservative first half and an aggressive second half resulting in a PR.  I wrote the splits down on my arms with permanent marker and committed to the plan.

I meet Smooth and the rest of group at the Boston Common at 6:20am on race morning.  It was freezing!  The wind seemed to come from all directions.  We quickly made our way to the line for the buses and literally fought our way to get into the bus.  I sat with Rhett and had a good conversation all the way up to Hopkinton.  This was nice and it made the ride up to Hopkinton feel shorter.  I was very glad I listened to Scott and Smooth and brought an inflatable mattress with me to lie down.  The wind kept whipping and it was sooo cold.  Very glad I brought extra clothes and a blanket.  I was very prepared for the Village and the time went by quickly.  When time came to head to the corrals I headed out with Rhett and Lito (Bobcat).  They made for good conversation as we dropped off our bags and started our long walk.  Rhett was nice enough to give me an extra trash bag he brought with him which I used as a wind breaker.  We made one last PP stop behind Coella’s Market and then headed out to the corrals.  I definitely scored with my super thick $1 gloves I picked up at Wal-Mart in Newport.  These kept me toasty warm all the way to the start.  The organization of the race was incredible.  There was never a doubt as to where I needed to be.  They must have checked my bib number about four times before I made it into the corral.  One disappointment was that I thought there was a flyover by fighter jets at the beginning of the race.  I either missed it or they didn’t have one.  In any case, the level of excitement from the runners and the crowd at the beginning was awesome.

The feeling of finally starting the race was so gratifying.  This is what I had been working towards for about two years and I was finally a part of it.  I started high fiving people right from the start.  I probably high-fived kids (and Wellesley girls) for at least 50% of the race.  The kids were so excited.  There was a biker bar close to the start where the bikers were more excited or “happy” than anyone else.  I was being passed a lot at the beginning since I decided to take it fairly easy at the beginning of the race.  This turned out to be great since it kept my pace controlled and it allowed me to take it all in.

The first few miles were very easy since they were at a gentle downhill.  I stuck to my plan like glue. Well, for the first 19 miles at least.  Here is the play-by-play:

    1-      7:31 (see description above)

    2-      7:16 (Crazy running with these many people.  Very different experience.)

    3-      7:03

    4-      7:09

    5-      7:17 (I think it was here that I saw my reflection on some store windows.  I saw myself running the Boston Marathon!)

    6-      7:01

    7-      7:07

    8-      7:11 (All throughout here it was very pretty.  I am feeling good.  I cannot believe every foot of this race is lined with spectators.  My hand is getting a workout from all the high-fives.)

    9-      7:08

    10-   7:18

    11-   7:20

    12-   7:11 (Wellesley.  Scream Tunnel.  Insane as advertised.  Literally all of the girls lining the street were looking for kisses.  Oh, if I was 20 years younger!  Instead I gave them all high-fives.)

    13-   7:17 (7:16 pace at the half, feeling good starting to have some pain on top of my feet)

    14-   7:11 (Pain on top of my feet is pretty bad and moving to the bottom.)

    15-   7:24 (My feet feel totally swollen and in pain.  What the heck is going on?)

    16-   7:08 (Here was the first long hill of the course, which was an overpass over Rte. 128, and I actually felt great going up it.  The pain on my feet eased significantly.)

    17-   7:43 (Looked for Jolynne after passing the Newton Hospital since this is where we were supposed to meet.  However, she was nowhere to be found.  Then, after the Power Bar aid station, the course turned left and I could see where we took a hard right towards the hills of Newton.  It was then that I saw the three orange balloons that I told Jolynne to use to mark her position.  She was at the left of the road with Kurt, Jen and the kids.  I headed over and paused to give high-fives to everybody.  As I was ready to leave I heard someone say “Hey!”.  I looked up and it was my brother-in-law Conrad!  He had not said anything about coming out and it caught me completely by surprise.  I said “Wow!”, gave him a fist pump, turned, and headed for the hills.)

    18-   7:46 (2^nd hill, not too bad.  Feeling good.)

    19-   7:34 (Fairly flat here.  My feet are hurting again.)

    20-   8:03 (3^rd hill, feet don’t hurt as much but slowed down the pace to make sure I have enough for Heartbreak)

    21-   8:33 (Heartbreak!  I took it easy up Heartbreak and it was good that I did.  By this point the hills took their toll but I still felt pretty good.  It was great to see the big inflatable sign at Boston College that read “Heartbreak is Over!!!  That was very cool but as I headed down hill toward Brookline my feet were pulsating with pain like I have not felt before at any race.  Here is where I paid the price for my four days of tourist walking prior to the race.  Stupid!  My body wanted to go but every step shot pain up my legs)

    22-   8:41 (My pace really slowed down here.  This was a death march.)

    23-   9:04 (I started taking walk breaks at this point.  Pain was fairly severe.  I saw two people passed out, one with blood all over his face.  I was definitely not the only one having issues.)

    24-   9:22 (I continued taking walk breaks.  Half the world is passing me now.  I was disgusted with myself and made several efforts to push the pace and ignore the pain in my feet.  I don’t remember where it was but I think it was around this mile that I caught my first glimpse of the CITGO sign in the distance.  This is where I remembered: YOU’RE RUNNING BOSTON!  This could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you’re missing it!  It was at this point that I came to my senses and stopped trying to push the pace and decided to jog my way to the finish while taking it all in.  I waved at people.  Smiled and looked forward to Hereford and Boylston.)

    25-   9:32 (It was awesome to see the fabled CITGO sign and Kenmore Square.  The crowds were overwhelming.  My feet started to feel a bit better.)

    26-   8:47 (Later I calculated that the second half was 8:18 pace, over one minute more per mile more than the first half!  At this point people were going nuts and this helped me to pick up the pace.  The right turn at Hereford was awesome.  I could really get a sense of the history of this race.  This is what I had worked and suffered so much to achieve and it was within my grasp.  Then left on Boylston.  Wow!  I felt like a rock star.  The crowd was going crazy and I had a smile from ear to ear.  I started pumping my fists and egging the crowd on.)

    27-   7:47 (this was actually 0.47 miles on the Garmin) (I was able to muster up some energy for the last stretch although the Marathonfoto pictures show that I was in deep pain. I was all grimace outside but I felt completely elated.  There it was!  The most famous finish line in all of running.  I finished it!  I finished the Boston Marathon!!!)

Total Final Time = 3:23:52.  My eighth marathon, my third best Marathon time, and the best race experience I have ever had. 

After the finish I was congratulated by a volunteer who gave me a Gatorade and instructed me to keep walking.  Here’s where the hurt came back with a vengeance.  I started feeling my legs lock up somewhat and walking was difficult but I kept going.  Another volunteer gave me a Gatorade Recovery Drink and a bag of food.  Later we got our space blankets and tape for the blankets and finally we were given our medals.  After that we were directed to the bus that had my bag and I waited for about 15 minutes in line to get my bag.  This was much faster than expected and I was glad.  I then moved to the family meeting area to find Jolynne and the rest of the gang.

It was cool to see Conrad there.  He also greeted me with a great surprise.  He pulled out a Salt Lake Marathon medal.  It took me a while to realize that this big boy had actually just run the Salt Lake Marathon on Saturday.  I yelled in astonishment and gave him a hug.  Jolynne then took a picture of us holding our medals side by side.  I think it’s amazing that he was still walking around after having completed that marathon only two days before.  Conrad is a die hard.  We then made our way to the subway where we had the nice surprise to find that they were giving free rides to the runners.

The way back to Kurt’s house was difficult but once we got there it was nice to kick up my feet and watch the re-runs of the race on TV.  Amazingly this Boston Marathon saw the fastest marathon ever run by any human being and the fastest run by an American.  Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai ran a 2:03:02, fastest marathon ever recorded.  American Ryan Hall ran a 2:04:58, the fastest marathon ever run by an American.  It is extremely cool that I ran the same race where these records were set.  It is even cooler that it all happened in Boston!  I will be back someday…

Well, I went into this race with lofty goals but I guess I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.  My goal was to hit 40 minutes and I believed I was in good enough condition to do so; however it was not to be.  The race was a bit confusing from the beginning since they changed the course since the last time I ran it.  I showed up at what I thought was the Start/Finish line only to find out that the start line had moved to the street that runs on the high side of the bowl that forms Kiwanis park.  I was OK with this held my breath about what other changes the course had for me.  One thing that could have been better is having sports drink and/or water at the start.  I really could have used a drink and there was none to be had.  Another thing that became a concern was the fact that the temperature was already in the mid-seventies and a bit muggy.  It would only get worse. 

My plan was to go at 6:45 pace up the 900E climb and then pump it up to 6:00 as we made the descent onto University Avenue.  After arriving at University Avenue I would try to hold the pace under 6:25 for as long as possible.  Well, the climb up 900E was shortened since we exited Kiwanis further up the street.  This was good for dealing with the uphill at the beginning but it also meant that we would have to make it up somewhere else.  I felt good going up 900E and was able to maintain pace.  The descent down to University Avenue also went as planned.  The first mile felt a bit labored but then I settled into a pretty good rhythm.  Halfway through the  University Avenue stretch I started to struggle a bit mainly because it was so stinking hot.  However I was able to maintain pace. 

I hit a 5K PR right after we left University Avenue.  I hit 5K at 20:xx, which is better than my previous PR of 21 which I ran at a very tough course.  One of these days I have to run a fair 5K just to see how fast I can really do it.  It was at this point that I started to pass a lot of people including some that I thought would be good pacesetters for me.  It became increasingly difficult to maintain pace.  I started wondering where we would make up the lost distance on 900E.  We ended up making up the distance on an uphill at a new loop on the course in between miles 4 and 5.  This hill came at the wrong time and my pace at one point went as low as 7:30.  Luckily I still had enough left to get back on pace on the downhill back to 900E.  I started to pass people again on this stretch and soon made it to 900E.  The road soon went uphill and I started to pass even more people.  However, my pace started to suffer.  The hills and the heat caught up with me and it became increasingly difficult to maintain sub-7 pace.  I went back and forth fighting to maintain pace and then the hill was over.  At that point I had about a third of a mile left and I decided to crank it.  I saw my 11-year old daughter Sofia and my brother-in-law Adam finishing the 5K and I gave them a shout-out as I ran by.  Sofia was looking strong and she had a smile on her face.  Cranking up the pace was difficult because I had to fight my way through a ton of 5K runners still on the course.  I saw Jolynne, Nikki, Alex, and Jen cheering me on.  I pushed it as fast as I could and finished the race at 42:09.

I was deeply disappointed since I had missed my goal by over 2 minutes and this was a PR of only 31 seconds.  I decided to quickly get some drink, which was not easy, meet up quickly with Jolynne and the kids and then head back out on the course to get my brother-in-law Conrad.  I promised him that I would come get him once I finished my race.  He had been injured for a long time and was not in shape but decided to run anyway.  He’s a gutsy fellow.  I re-fueled and met up with my family.  I was very happy to hear that my 13-year old son Alex had set a huge PR by running the 5K in 26 minutes.  He was very happy and I very proud.  Nikki and Jen had run together and went slower but had a good race and had smiles on their faces.  We took some pictures and I was off.

I had to backtrack about 2 miles until I found my sister-in-law Kristy with her daughter Rachel who had stomach issues and was having to stop frequently at the port-a-potties.  Not far behind was Conrad who was struggling big time.  His legs were killing him and the pain was evident on his face.  I stuck with him and we took it one step at a time.  I was very impressed with Conrad.  I challenged him to run the hill and he cranked up the volume on his iPod and did it.  Once we made the turn onto Kiwanis I told him the finish line was around the corner and he gave it all he could and finished strong.  Sofia and I ran it in with him.  It was very cool.

Finally I was able to relax and properly re-fuel with fruit and bread and more drink.  I met up with the rest of my extended family and we started to debrief the experience with each other.  It was fun.  I then spotted where they posted the results and to my surprise it looked like I had placed in the 35-39 age group.  By my simple count it looked like I came in 3^rd in my age group and 42^nd overall.  I was shocked since my time had been so slow and this 10K is fairly large (over 1,200 people).  So we decided to stick around for the awards ceremony to see if I had actually placed.  To my surprise I placed third.  When my name was called my family cheered and laughed since the announcer totally massacred my name.  I received a nice “paper weight” with laser engraving of the race logo and my placement.  The guy that came in 2^nd beat me by about 28 seconds and the guy that came in first came in about 2.5 mins faster than that.

One funny thing that happened is that Sofia and Rachel volunteered to sing a song for the chance to win free shoes form the 26.2 Running Company.  They didn’t win but were cute and funny. Sofia even did the “worm” break dancing move on-stage.  Very funny.

I was disappointed with my performance but very happy I placed so well at such a large race.  My age group alone had 102 people.  It definitely has been my best competitive result to-date.  I think the toughness of the new course and the heat combined to turn times slower for everybody in the race.  I need to run a less hilly10K to see how I can do.  Deseret News maybe?  We’ll see...

So I had been watching the weather forecast religiously the whole week leading up to TOU.  I grew increasingly alarmed because most forecasts called for morning rain.  I HATE running in the rain.  I do best in dry and warm conditions (like the weather at St. George most years).  So I kept praying that the weather would let up.  I went to the Expo with my wife Jolynne on Saturday to pick up my bib and shirt.  I am always amazed how organized and fast the pickup process is at TOU.  This is a testament to the organization and the volunteers.  Quite frankly I don’t know what to think of the shirt.  I think I like the color but I don’t like the color of the print.  It is loud to be sure but it is growing on me.  We’ll see how much I wear it.

Once again the Expo wasn’t.  I am amazed that they can’t get more vendors at the Expo.  But oh well, the beauty of TOU is not in the extras but in its pure simplicity.  This is a true marathoner’s race.  You don’t come for the schwag, or the Expo, or the pasta feed, or music on the course, or shoulder to shoulder spectators.  You come to TOU for flawless execution, responsive race organizers, great volunteers, top notch support on the course, great start line geared to your comfort and race readiness, a beautiful and challenging but fair course, wonderful finish line amenities, a beautiful meaty “moose” medal every year, coveted “moose” age group awards (I will win one of those one day dang it!), and fast and accurate results posting.  No half marathoners to contend with; no crowds; no long lines for anything.  Just a pure marathon experience.  Also because of the Boston Marathon’s changes to its registration dates TOU has really become the Last Chance for Boston Marathon.  TOU now occurs on the weekend prior to the start of the second week of registration for Boston, so Boston hopefuls should plan accordingly.

But I digress; back to Friday night.  I really thought my prayers had been answered since it rained a bit during the day but the evening had no rain.  We stayed at the University Inn which is now a tradition for Jolynne and me.  I love this little hotel; it’s simple like the marathon and right on USU campus.  Next morning I went to the lobby and to my surprise I saw the same man that I had talked with in the lobby two years previously when I last ran TOU.  His name is David Sam and the encounter was a déjà vu moment.  We then went outside and it was not cold at all.  You could tell it had rained but there was no rain now so I thought “score!!!”  David and I took the bus to Merlin Olsen Park and then up the canyon and saw no real rain problems.  However, once up at the start line and literally minutes before the gun went off the floodgates opened and anybody who wasn’t in the heated tent (me) got soaked through and through.  Luckily I remembered to bring a trash bag and was able to keep my core fairly dry.  Also, like down in the valley, it wasn’t too terribly cold.  Definitely not as cold it has been the two previous times I have run this race (2008 and 2009).  Having your shoes totally waterlogged definitely sucked.  Not the best way to start a race but I decided to keep it positive so I put on a smile and went through the start line after the start gun(s) went off.  Shortly thereafter I had the crap scared out of me when a gun was fired late a bit after I passed by the start.  Somebody yelled “false start, do over, everybody come back!” which I thought was hilarious.

So down the mountain we went.  My goal up until start time had been to get anything below 3:20, which is a BQ for me.  However, I felt good and I decided to shoot for sub 3:15.  This was pretty bold on my part considering my previous experiences with TOU, which had been very difficult.  Also, my training had been fairly average leading up to the race mostly because it had been focused on readiness for a sprint triathlon a few weeks before TOU.  I love TOU but my perception of the course was that it is definitely tough.  You hit mile 14 and that’s all she wrote baby!  However I am older and wiser and this TOU was my 10^th marathon so I decided to put everything I had learned about race day into practice.

I started by planning on very slightly positive splits.  TOU, unlike Ogden and St. George does not lend itself too well to negative splits.  So I kept my pace around 7:15 for the first 15 miles, planning on around 7:26 pace for the rest.  I did not focus on distance traversed but on the current pace and effort, trying to keep the effort even throughout.  This was difficult since sometimes you end up in competitive situations and I don’t like people to pass me.  However, I was good and let whoever wanted to pass me to do so.  I kept my pace fairly steady.  I also decided to drink lightly at every aid station and to drink Gatorade every time I was not taking Hammer Gel.  And when I did take Gel I made sure to take water.  I also made it a point to significantly slow down at the aid stations.  This gave my legs a rest and ensured that I got the amount of hydration I needed.  I still kept on pace but the aid stations were times to give the legs a break.

I also think my fueling strategy was good.  I started carbo-loading on Thursday.  On Friday I had a huge Turkey Sandwich with wheat bread for lunch and a smaller fish sandwich for dinner.  I also made sure to have plenty of bananas and liquids during the carbo-load period and Orowheat patties with jam for snacks.  The morning of the race I had a wheat pancake and Gatorade for breakfast.  Not tasty but it did the trick.  Needless to say I was glycogen full at the start line but I did not feel too full or unsettled, which is just the way I felt at St. George last year when I achieved the BQ that took me to Boston.

The first 5 miles went great and the rain became a very light drizzle.  I then noticed that my core was wetter than my arms because the trash bag was keeping the sweat in.  I threw the bag away at mile six and felt much better.  The weather essentially stayed the same for the next couple of miles but then around mile 9 or 10 it started to rain again.  Hard.  People started moaning and complaining that we did not order rain with our registration.  I agreed and then it started to hail.  All I could say was "Are you kidding me?"  Luckily the thunder and lightning held off until I was out of the canyon at mile 14 but when it came it did so fairly impressively.  I heard that the race organizers were actually considering stopping the race.  Thankfully that didn't happen.

Holding back my pace for strength in the second half was difficult but it was totally worth it.  I felt great at mile 14 and I even noticed the continuing downward grade all the way up to mile 18.  Then the course got significantly more difficult.  This is really where the race started.  And right on cue this is where Jolynne was waiting to cheer me on.  She’s awesome and her loud cheers always give me a boost.  I was extremely lucky in that I started drafting a woman by the name of Pearson Smith, I later learned, that was going at the exact pace I needed to maintain.  There were points where she would fall behind but then she would pass me and this would bring me back on schedule.  Those miles through the neighborhoods are tough.  Turns and uphills.  There was one uphill at mile 23, I think, that I swear was not there in previous years.  That was a tough one but somehow I was able to keep up with Pearson.  Amazingly, Jolynne is now so familiar with this course that she was able to cheer me on at 5 different points throughout these miles.  I can’t begin to express how much that helped to keep me focused on my goal.

After a while as we were approaching Main Street it became really competitive and I think Pearson lost a step and I went ahead and she didn’t overtake me again.  This was not good since now I was on my own to make it under 3:15.  I was amazed at how I was able to keep up the energy and the pace.  I turned onto main street and I faced what I had been dreading the entire race:  the Main Street hill.  This is not a particularly big or long hill but it comes at the wrong time, right before mile 25.  I psyched myself up and said “I’ll be damned if I let this hill defeat me”.  I have missed time goals by seconds in the past and it is always due to lack of toughness in the “red zone” for the marathon.  Today would not be that day!  I checked my form, pumped my arms and flew up that freaking hill.  This was tough and my pace slowed as I hit mile 25.  However, I kept focusing on my pace and on how close I was to that 3:15.  I dug deep, probably the deepest I have dug in any race.  The crowd was wonderful and their support made a difference.  I then took the downhill that parallels the Main Street Hill about a block away.  This was great and gave me the momentum that I needed to make the last two turns and get to the final stretch.  At this point I heard Jolynne screaming my name and I saw the clock.  The clock said 3:14:52.  I thought “I am not missing 3:15!!!” and I pumped up the pace to all I could sustain.  I was at that point where you get tunnel vision and you can’t feel your legs.  All I could see was the clock ticking, 3:15:07, 3:15:12, 3:15:17 and then I crossed the finish line.  I was totally spent.  So much so that a volunteer had to hold me up all the way to the medals and a bit afterwards until I caught my breath and got my bearings.

At that point I did not know what to think.  Did I make it?  If I did it was probably only by a second or so.  I went into the runner’s area and got my picture with my beautiful medal (as always at TOU) and then went to refuel myself.  A bit later I saw Jolynne come to the fence and I hugged her and started debriefing.  All of the sudden she got a text message and she started cheering.  She had received my chip time, 3:14:56!  Talk about photo finish!  I had done it with 4 seconds to spare.  TOU did not defeat me.  I got a 5+ minute BQ under 2012 standards and a BQ under 2013 standards.  I did this on a challenging course, on a challenging day.  What a great feeling.  Talk about a runners high.  This feeling is what the marathon is all about and why it is so addicting.

I finished the day by talking to friends, getting a free massage, checking out the official results and hanging out with Jolynne.  And of course no TOU day is complete without finishing it off with the free Aggie Ice Cream we got from the University Inn.  Great finish to a great day.

Final results: 3:14:56, 85^th overall (top 5%), 76^th of the men (top 8%), 12^th in age group (top 8%)

P.S. – Actually the day did not end great.  BYU got the crap beat out of them and the rains ruined my Garmin.  Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Here are my splits:

1 – 7:18

2 – 7:14

3 – 7:09 (21:41 cum)

4 – 7:16

5 – 7:15

6 – 7:16 (43:28 cum)

7 – 7:12

8 – 7:10

9 – 7:10

10 – 7:22

11 – 7:12

12 – 7:18

13 – 7:11 (1^st Half, 1:34, approx)

14 – 7:11

15 – 7:08

16 – 7:15

17 – 7:08

18 – 7:28

19 – 7:22

20 – 7:53 (2:25 cum)

21 – 7:21

22 – 7:33

23 – 7:47

24 – 7:49

25 – 7:42

26 – 7:48 (2^nd Half 1:37, approx.)

.46 – 3:42

Final - 3:14:56 (7:22 pace)