Well my goal after having Jack was to run this race and I did it! It was a beautiful course in Moab, parrelleling the Colorado River. We had views of the river and snow-dusted red rocks. The first 6 miles were great. I felt really good and the splits were 8:50, 8:34, 9:15, 8:47, 11:50 (included bathroom break) and 8:58. The last half was really tough: lots of hills right in a row. I ran with Helen, who I know could have gone much faster, but she was kind and stuck it out with me. But even the last miles didn't take us that long: 9:34, 10:32, 9:41, 10:05, 9:14, 9:52, 8:18. The lack of sleep the night before really caught up to me at mile 11. I went to bed at around 9, but couldn't really get to sleep. It may have been nerves, but probably had more to do with the fact this was my first time away from Jack. And mile 11 was tough because my longest training run was 10 miles, so mentally it was difficult to keep going. In fact, I bribed myself by walking 1 minute at the 11 mile-mark. I wanted to do that at 12, too, but Helen and I convinced ourselves to keep going. Chad did awesome, coming in 4th and winning his age division. This for a guy who wasn't sure if he was going to race until it started. | 