Leg 27 7.9 miles downhill to mile 3 and then mean uphills flats and last 2 or so downhill and flats. Ranked Hard difficulty
Okay here is the last leg for us in van 1. Things have changed a lot from last 2 legs. The first one was hot and not a cloud in the sky. Leg 2 we had clouds coming in but still a beautiful night. Leg 3 on the other hand was not going to be the same. The first 2 runners were holding up strong and doing great in our van. And started to sprinkle on them. It wasn't a cold rain yet. That was going to come later. For our van the distances ranged from 2.5 to almost 4 except mine. They all had tougher runs before and this was my tough run. It was a mixed up some steep uphills and downhills with rain and wind kicking up. It was a great run though going around the Jordanelle. Not that I was focusing on it at all. My plan was to make it through this one alive and well. Body was feeling rested and I was happy to see the overcast. But I started getting worried as I was waiting at the exchange. I got there a bit early and was able to get business done and wait at the exchange point. Seeing alot of people come and go. Thinking oh yeah I can catch him or her. Or dang I dont think I will catch that guy and I am glad he took off before me. I was going to go with taking the first 2-3 miles to warm up and then try and find my pace. Problem was it was a steep downhill after around .4 miles and for the first mile so I kept trying to keep it slow. To save myself. Also as I was waiting for the gal to come in before me. The wind started to really pick up and if I remember right it started to rain as I started. I tried to get a jacket on and take the sleeves off so that my core at least could stay warm I though. I am glad the sleeves were having issues because it would of overheated me for sure. I felt great starting out and had caught a few people by mile 2 and was feeling good. Not spent at all. The wife was there with support again about every mile along the way it seemed. Right from mile 1 trying to give me the jacket and water. I kept passing on the jacket since I was good and warmed up and was only slightly raining. Then I hit mile 3 and the foot of the steepest part of the leg. And it was long and steep. The wife said dont look up just keep going. At this point I had passed about 5 people and so I just would look up and measure how far I was away from someone and kept plugging along. And tring not to redline. I must say it was a hard hill climb yet it was good to catch people. That kept me going and pushing when I was feeling like slowing down to much. There was another gradual hill climb from the top of that steep one for another 1-2 to 6. And I could see a big huge group of people. One here and there and then like a group of 5. As they spanned out ahead of me. My pace was no where near the sub 7 I was predicted to run to stay on course for this. But I was making up ground on the field. And I could see them in those hill climbs. And knew I would have to catch them on this hill because with the downhill coming for the last 2 it would be so much harder. I was able to catch and be up to 10 road kills by the 6 mile mark. And then the flat and small hill again before the big decent. I was right on the hills of a group of 4 guys as we started to head down. And as I was passing them someone had caught me too and was passing me. He was looking so strong and refreshed ARGH!!! It was just a bit out from the 1 mile mark. And I wasnt letting this guy get away if I could help it. This mile went fast. And there was just these 2 guys ahead. The fast guy and another guy he was gaining on. As we hit the one mile out sign. This fast guy had someone else jump out of a van and replaced him. I was within like 15 yards from him and just looked at him shocked. And he just hanged his head in shame because he knew I had caught him cheating. I tried to catch up to the new guy that was fresh and heading down this downhill and he passed my would be 18th guy. It was demoralizing to me to get passed like that. And then angered me even more to find they had cheated like that. I know that I would of been able to catch that guy if he was the one that would of ran the rest. The new fresh runner had gotten away. But that last guy. My 18th road kill was not going to get away. I had only .4 to go and I was still closing in on this guy and he was holding strong. I had to make a move or I would never catch him. The wife kind of made me move faster then I wanted. And had the camera ready to catch me taking this guy. So I surged and caught up to him and passed him. OUCH!! That was alot of effort and had to relax a few secs after I got about 5 yards ahead. By that time I could see the chute and I was not going to let this guy get past me. He was still holding strong within a few yards or so of me. And I took off again with about .1 to go. It felt really good. And ran that one more competitive and not worry about the time. From our predictor I had to run sub 7s for this one. That just wasnt going to happen. I had lost 14 mins total on that run. OUCH!! But felt I ran that one the best of all my legs. I feel so much better on the longer runs then I do the shorter ones. Since you cant really get warmed up right to come out fast at first. This leg I wouldnt change a thing on. I loved the challenge of it and that I was able to do so well on my third and last leg. And that my wife was there cheering me on only helped me that much more. It feels like I am getting back that competitive edge again. I had to relax that side of me while I was recovering. But feel I can really start running more hard again. So I got 18 road kills on this one. And got passed by a team(26) that cheated so I am not counting that. Ended up passing 32 people and no one passed me. Here are the splits. Mile 1 7:37 Mile 2 7:38 Mile 3 8:01 Mile 4 9:27 Mile 5 10:04 Mile 6 9:28 Mile 7 9:03 Mile 8 8:12 TT 1:08:47 AP 8:42 Total Distance 7.91 So as a recap of this all I had a very great time running with Kathie, Kimmie and the rest of the team. I cant wait to do it again next year. And hopefully run it with my wife next year. Was able to see Smooth, Cal, Jeffc(rdrunner), a friend from work. Run with a awesome team and had a great time. My wife was there to cheer me on and celebrate our hard work with us. And now to catch up on some of that thing we call sleep.:)
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