Had such a fun time last year at this race that I figured id run it again this year. Went out with Logan and we stuck together till the end of the second loop. I was starting to feel frisky so I told him I was going to pick it up a little and see what happened. Felt really good for a several miles then on the big climb in loop 3 I started to feel the effects of either speeding up or just plain tired legs. I missed a slight stepup on some rocks and went down on my shin. Thankfully not bad and the water bottle broke the fall for my hand so it didnt end up being bad. The rest of the race including the climb fest on loop 4 was pretty uneventfull. Just lots of mental games to keep the legs turning over. I was within sight of Hayden and #2 after passing Logan but didnt seem to be gaining. Once the decent started on loop 4 I knew I needed to really concentrate to keep from triping cause my legs where really hurting. I used the down hill as best I could and poked along on the climbs but managed to make it back to the aid station for the final route. Filled the water and downed a few pickles and a shot of something Steve handed me. Grabbed a few pretzles and then was back on my way. My dad said I was only about 3-4 minutes back from number 2 so I tried to keep moving along to see if I could close the gap even though this portion of the race is horrid. Once I hit the road I felt like I might repeat last years walk-a-thon but I slowed on the climb before getting back on the trail and just tried to focus once I got back on the trail and it seemed to work out cause I caught #2 about 3/4 of a mile from the finish and was able to finish strong. I fueled well (didnt keep track of when I took gu or shot blocks just took them fairly ofter and ate 3 sandwhich slices going up #4 on top of the pickles, pretzles and drink before #5) and keep just the right of water in me so it was a fun experience. Super hard but enjoyable. With more distance training I think I could keep a better pace the last several miles.
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