Of course it's about running.

I was shooting for 1:45, I ran 1:57:52. So what happened? I'd like to blame blisters or cramps or getting run over by bigfoot, but it was just fatigue. If I was a real athlete I'd call it overtraining, but I just went too hard in the week or 10 days before the race. The run I was so pleased with on 8/5, the 8-miler at the track, was certainly a poor idea in retrospect. As I prepared for the CDC, instead of keeping the same pace at a shorter distance I should have dropped both distance AND intensity. When the Distance Classic progressed past 7 miles I was worn out.

The first half went well - I was almost a minute faster through 4 miles and :55 seconds through 6. I had to hit the bushes during mile 7, but as I passed that mile marker I was still about 7 seconds faster than goal pace. Then I started to slow, and dropped about 50 seconds in mile 8. I tried to speed up in mile 9 but dropped another 30. Then during mile 10 the wheels fell off and I dropped way back. I wasn't in pain, I hadn't twisted anything or stepped in a pothole, I just couldn't go as fast as I wanted. I also had a hard time keeping my breathing cadence going, and lapsed into some gasping. Miles 10-13 were a long, slow slog as I just tried to get to the finish and be done.

The 1:57:52 was just under a 9 minute/mile pace, and I would have been really happy with that time 6 months ago. But instead of being mad, I'm just bummed about the missed opportunity. I'm very glad that I had the overtraining experience now instead of during the marathon on October 22. Overall, while I was a little disappointed, I learned a lot about how to train and how to rest, so I still count this "slow" race as a success.