secret ingedients

hell hath no hurry, indeed

this is the first race that i didn't start out too fast (lining up in the very back and being a mostly single-track path really helps with that). i was already sweating just standing around, so actually getting moving felt pretty good. not a lot of mud, either (boo) and no bugs at all (yay).

how it started

i paid attention to heart rate the whole way, but didn't really do anything about it, since there were enough climbs to walk and slow down that i could keep running when i wanted to.

nice to have options

this sign greeted us at the halfway aid station, where i learned that 1) ginger ale and gatorade is GREAT like a virgin jon daly and b) you cannot physically eat a pretzel rod while running (you can, however, enjoy it after it's been in your sweaty pocket for over an hour).

how it ended

since this was my first longer race, i wound up tucking in behind some runners who i thought i could keep up with and were doing a consistent pace (thanks, ladies!). i felt really pretty great at the finish, which leads me to believe that i could go harder next time now that i have a feel for what it's like in the heat and humidity. GUNNING FOR YOU, WHOEVER WAS IN 99th PLACE

shiny

i will definitely be doing this race again next year -- maybe the 30k version who knows especially if they rename it Hell the Wheels Hath Come Off -- and everyone was great even though i am an introverted dork.

A++ will suffer again. highly recommended.

this way?