AM - Holy crap... what a neat experience. This run was one of the reasons I love running. Up very early to hit the bus up to Central. We were told the rains had made the trail section a bit wet (but it turned out to not be bad at all). Also, the overcast skies made for some pretty dark running. The race organizers tried there best, however, by having a 4-wheeler right behind us, so we could see a little. A little chilly at the start, but not really too bad - low 40's. Race started off with a guy who I later learn is Shawn Martin (brother of Theo and Tim Martin, All-Americans from NAU and Page, AZ) and he is a pretty good runner in his own right, some other guy, and myself. My plan coming into the race, and throughout, was too make sure I DIDN'T race; instead make it a good long run, so I can run well throughout the next couple weeks of training and don't have to recover. So that thought dictated how I ran. About 4 miles into the race, we hit a series of masterful hills along the powerline trail going out of Central. The other guy had nothing on the hills and I just sat right behind Shawn. My mind, however, kept going back to racing since I was right with him, so I stopped at the aide station around 7 and took a gel and let Shawn pull away. As I got going again, I kind of closed the gap. I was having a lot of fun running on this trail/dirt road and subsequently closed the gap and found myself only 30 meters back. So at around 9 I stopped at the aide station and shot the breeze for a couple minutes with an old elementary teacher Mr. Empey. So now Shawn is way up and I can just relax. The views were amazing and the fog was just rolling off the hills. Coming off 12 and onto the paved section of the course, I once again caught Shawn who was going the shoe exchange (I didn't change shoes). So I pulled up on him by about maybe 20 seconds. At this point, I was just rolling down through toward Gunlock. I was caught by Shawn and we just settled into an awesome rhythm. We talked for probably 6 miles and the times just kept getting quicker - down to 6:00 (much quicker than planned). So I told Shawn to just keep on rolling and I held up at another aide station. Then I stopped up at the next one. It was kind of funny, the volunteers didn't understand why I was just stopping and talking and the leader was pulling away! Anyway after Shawn was long gone, I just kept it moving. Around 24 my parents were at the junction of the highway to Mesquite and Gunlock. I chatted with them for a minute and notice I was starting to tighten up, so on I went. The last section of the race is essentially the same as the River 1/2 that kind of ate me up last Sept. Although I was starting to tighten and lose it, I felt better about my running this time than then. The course had a little twist at the end with a loop around a few blocks to add the last mile that was kind of a pain. And at that time, I really just wanted to be done. But on a run this long, I think anyone would really just want to be done. Finished up by meeting all my goals. I ran solidly, had a lot of fun, enjoyed the scenery, and I think I'll be able to bounce back next week (knock on wood). I entertained myself by singing random notes as I went down through the river bottoms around 23 when I was pretty bored, and had a victory cheer for myself w/ help from the volunteers at 27 when I told them I was now running the longest I ever had! Today was the kind of day that I think could have been a pretty solid sub 2:30 day. I actually went through the marathon at 2:58 (and that included the much tougher/slower trail section). Fun stuff! (Landreth 184.5)
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