Well it's over and I'm happy. Everything turned out just as planned or better. We had a fun time with just the girls, much easier to focus on the race. Hydrated all week and carbo loaded and was felling good. I took it really easy the week before and was ready to run. We brought our own dinner down and it felt good on my stomach. This was the biggest race I've ever done and my second "real" road marathon. It was exciting to be at the start with so many people and the lights and d.j. made it all so fun. We were throwing our bags in the truck when the gun went off, ahh! I found a hole in the gate and started runing back to find the 3:30 pacer when I saw Cheris and Michelle. The grabbed me and we started running. I'm so glad they did, it made all the difference. I was going to go for a 3:30 then decided the few days before to try a 3:20. It really helped to startt with them and try to stick with them the whole race. I also decided to bag following split times the whole race-because i would have been stressed out if I fell behind. Instead we just followed the 3:20 guy the whole way. The first half felt great and flew by. We could have gone faster but was not sure how that would have turned out, probably not good. I stopped to go potty 5 or 6 times-ridiculous! I have to solve that problem, I was well hydrated though!! Every time I stopped I would have to sprint to catch up to the girls and the pacer guy which hurt me. Veyo hill was fine, we slowed to a 8:20 pace and it felt great. I took gu at miles 7, 13 and 19 which seemed like a lot but it worked, I also always drank water when i gu'd and I drank Gatorade the other times. i also always waled when I drank which seemed to work, I actually drank and never got a side cramp. My avg. pace was around 7:30, slower on the hills. I felt great at up to mile 16 then my quads started hurting. By 19 they killed! I was mad cause other then that i felt great but the pain was pretty bad. not really crampy just sore. I never felt like i could let go and scream down the hils cause it hurt so bad. The up hills and flats felt great but there were not enough of those. At 21 Michelle took off and i could not keep up. Cheris's calves were hurting her and she slowed a bit. I knew I had to hurry now or would not beet 3:20. I gave the last three miles everything i had and stayed around 7 min. miles. I had my radio up loud and was trying to stay focused, it really hurt though. I loved the crowd, I even got teary eyed that last mile. I was thinking of all those cold, early mornings when I did not want to run and I did. I was thinking of the crappy (no offense Peggy and Cheryl) hill workouts and track workouts. I was happy they were paying off now. I ran across the line just in front of the 3:20 pacer who ran way too fast the whole race and slowed way down the last mile! So fun to see everyone along the course and at the finish! I was very impressed by EVERYONES times, no matter what they were we all worked hard and did our best and should be very happy. Thanks to everyone!! I may not do another road race, ever!! I am so sore, more sore then I've ever been. I think I'm aiming for a 50 miler or an ironman next. I'll leave all the really fast times to you all! | 