I was feeling great running at Kelley's pace. Kevin and Corey took off pretty early running around an 8:00 pace. For the first mile we were behind Ilona (who was "focused" and not chatting too much) then we just held that 8:25 pace for the next few miles. It felt great, MCM is going to be fun. I mentioned that by the end of the run she'll be saying "SHUT UP BOB!!". The course was great with writing all over the roads pointing out things like pretty horses, cows, country smell. At about 5 miles or so I had to pee bad and started to look for an opportunity but nothing presented itself until a sign said porta potty ahead. Kevin and Corey passed by us and I told Kelley at the turn I am going to use the potty and try to catch them before the finish. I came out of the porta-potty and got into a "comfortably hard" pace. The first hill was torture and I felt like I was going to burn out pretty fast with what little threshold training I have done. When I crested the hill I felt my HR come down a bit and my legs felt much better. I was still able to chat with people as I ran by them and I kept hearing comments like "Were you in the bathroom at the start?" These people didn't even know about my "problem". :-) I still walked through the water stations and took a couple small glasses of Gatorade. I was carrying a water bottle so my hydration was pretty good. I caught up to Kevin and chatted for a minute, he said Corey was a ways up and looked good. I couldn't run any faster but felt I could hold the pace I was holding so I moved on. The last 2 miles were into a strong headwind, that sucked but I was just glad I wasn't on a bike. (I can't believe I actually thought that!) Finished at the same pace, a few minutes behind Corey.

Nothing at all. This was a great race and a nice end to a "long run day".

Not much of a cool down. My Aquaphor tank top chafed the heck out of my upper arms. Good thing I have a supply! I loaded up on Aquaphor, got some fruit and peanut butter, put the Compex pads on for the ride home and had to leave to taxi my kids around.


Training or lack there of.


This is a great fall race! The course is beautiful with the foliage in it's peak. This year was about a week late for prime foliage but the weather was perfect.