What an adventure!...
As usual with relays, the race experience is enhanced by the teamwork dimension. And it is a lot of fun!
I had not been able to find friends to form a full team for this relay, so I left my contact information on the race website and I was contacted by a team 2 to 3 weeks before the race. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to participate in this promising race, a 195 mile race in the incomparably scenic landscapes of southern Utah. 
The course begins at Capitol Reef National park and ends at the top of Zion National Park.  The majority of the course is along Utah’s only “All-American Road” which passes through  Dixie National Forest,  over Boulder Mountain, through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,  Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon, and by Anasazi state park, Ecalante Petrified State Park, and Kodachrome State Park.

I had not done a lot of running to prepare for this race but with my triathlon training I was more than in shape to join a novice running team.
My team mates were recreational runners that had had minimal preparation for the race. 
The race took place of 2 days and one night of continuous running (6/28/13 to 6/29/13) with a team comprised of 12 runners and 2 support cars (we actually had 3 cars).
I was assigned to sub-team / car #1 with Dawnelle (a weight lifting 30ish year old woman), Nancy, 47, the most experienced runner of the team, Paxton 19 ( used to play sport but now a smoker with asthma and hardly any running background), Nina 16 and Denis 14 both of which had been running for a few months).
The second sub-team was a bit older in age (almost all in their 30ies but not much more experienced in running. Gordon, 52 was the most experienced runner of this group).
The fact that I was the most "hard core" and probably the fastest runner in the team put less pressure on me but I really wanted to perform well to help as much as I could.

I got the chance to kick off the race at 5am on 6/28/30. My leg assignment was tough but not the toughest of all. I was runner#1 and the most difficult assignment was for runner #2 (Denis). Since we had some uncertain and slightly injured runners in the group I had proposed my friend Florian, a very fast runner to join the team. I was supposed to be runner #2, however, at the last minute he cancelled and we maintained the assignments.
My leg assignments were 
#1 - 9.4 miles rated Super hard with a 1262 ft gain
#13 - 7.0 miles rated Very hard with 758 ft gain
#25 - 3.3 miles rated Easy with 299 gain
We ended shuffling the assignments a bit and I helped a few runners in the team that were either too tired or too much in pain to run.
I ended up running the following:
     -Leg 1, 
     -leg 13, 
     -end of Nina's leg 15 (2 miles) (she was in so much pain because her shoes were to small, 
     -leg 18 with Dawnelle (3.6 miles) (she was a bit scared to run alone at night so I ran with her), 
     -leg 30 (5.8 miles with 805 ft climb, rated very hard. Gosh that hill was tough at the end!...),
     -beginning of leg 32 (about 0.5 miles - Meredith's leg : she was not ready at the start of the leg)
     -end of Gordon's leg 36 and last leg of race, about 2 miles. It was so hot that afternoon (107F when I started this leg) that we decided to help Gordon out. 3 different runners helped run that leg.

The team allowed me to finish the race for them which was so nice of them and such an honor.
The whole race was a joy. I ran about 32 miles total, felt great, no sign of injury or fatigue the next day and I met a great bunch a people. AWESOME!

I took a few picture during the second day of the race but unfortunately, I missed the first day (no batteries)...

On 6/8/13, I did my first Olympic triathlon: the Daybreak triathlon. The swim part was my first open water swim race. 
I finished the triathlon in the middle of the pack. My swim was pretty terrible but I was expecting that. I finished in 39min, while swimming breast strokes about half of the time. My biggest challenge was the sighting. I was zigzagging the whole time, finding myself occasionally off course on the shores of the lake.. A lot more practice needed...
T1 was was especially horrible. I tried to pre-clip my bike shoes and attach them to the bike with rubber bands but completely failed to put them on while on the bike. I had also forgotten to attach my water bottle to the bike and it took me ages to attach the velcro properly while riding.

The most disappointing part for me had to be the biking. I thought I would perform better, but the result speaks for itself. With an overall age group finish of 22nd / 36 on my total time, my bike ride was just about average. I should not be surprised really. I have not done that much biking yet, and I am still a beginner. I was under the silly illusion that I was better than this. Well... Nothing better to motivate me though. I feel my blood boiling.
I did catch back up a bit on the run, but again, this was a learning experience for me. I started at my 10k pace (the course was 6.5miles) but quickly realized I was not going to be able to sustain it. This was a bit surprising to me. But with the heat (full sun 90 - 95 F) and the accumulated fatigue, I actually suffered in the run and finished at a slow 8:00 min/mile pace in 49min.
 
With the added motivation of this relative disappointment, I started the training pretty hard again.
I have been commuting to work twice a week with my bike and joined a local triathlon club.
The club is absolutely amazing at assisting with my training. On Mondays 6am, we do a group swim workout, Tuesdays are track run workout (6am). 

I had not done speed work in months. Performing them alone was really a chore that I did not enjoy at all. However, with the club, and the other guys pushing me, it's actually really challenging and enjoyable. Thursdays are a higher intensity bike ride for about an hour. I can't always join because it is too early for me (6pm) and sometimes far away from my work. But I have done a uphill canyon time trial (at Emigration Canyon) which helped me measure how mediocre my bike performance currently is. The top guy finished the climb under 26 minutes, while it took me 37min....
 On the week end, I have started doing one long ride and try to maintain one long run as well.
The club also organizes open water sessions once a month and other events that are fun to take part of.
So far, I am trying to hit all the key sessions of my written Excel plan but I am planning to reshuffle it to include the following:

     -SWIM
          1 club swim per week
          1  long swim alone (1 to 1.5 hr)
          1-2 swim alone with intervals with at least 1 open water a week                     practicing sighting 

     -BIKE
          2 commutes to work a week (17.5 miles x4)
          1 interval training with the club on Thursdays if possible
          1 long ride per week (4  - 6hrs)
          1 tempo on week ends (1 - 2 hrs) with intervals or sustained effort
           really want to buy a virtual trainer whenever possible to do some of these workouts in a more controlled manner...

     -RUN
          1 speedwork with the club (Mondays)
          1 long run per week (weekends) 12 miles to 22 miles  
          1 tempo run in the middle of the week (~8 miles)
          I would like to try to keep my running at about 30 miles a week if possible

That is a lot of training for me. A lot more than I have ever done. I am evaluating it at 17 to 23 hours per week. Maybe a bit ambitious and I might need to adjust it down later on. I also have to add some transition practice in there.

Realizing I have so much more to learn, I signed up for 2 more triathlons before the ChesapeakeMan. One is a sprint on 8/10/13, the Herriman triathlon. It will be a good opportunity to put in practice the transition training I am going to do.
Then on 8/24/13, a half Ironman (Utah Half). This will be my final reality check before the Ironman on 9/21/13.

This week, I am putting my training on hold for a few days to join a team doing the Top of Zion relay. A 200 mile run relay race in the southern Utah's National park. I have been wanting to do this race for a couple of years so this is worth my while. I will still use this as a serious run training and since it ends on Saturday, I should have time for a long ride on Sunday.
          

In the last month, following Boston, it got a bit hard motivation wise. Sure I did the 2 / 3 swims a week, a couple of bike rides a week and 1 or 2 runs a week. But the intensityand most importantly the mental wasn't there. 
I fixed my mountain bike and went riding in the trails behind my house (video below). Wow are these trails fantastic or what? Mountain biking is so exciting, more varied than road biking and feels amazingly fast in the downhill portions.
Yesterday I did my first Olympic triathlon which marks the beginning of the official start of my high intensity triathlon training.
How did I do? Well a bit disappointing 'middle of the pack' performance. But really it is a reflection of how my training has been going.
As expected the swim was a bit of a struggle. Effort wise it felt kind of easy but the problem was in staying orientated. I kept swimming too far right, too far left, bumping into other people, and I had to stop and breast stroke every 10- 15 strokes to see where I was going. I completed the 0.9swim in 39 minutes. A bit slower than my pool swims but given all the zig zagging, I could not expect much better.
Coming out of the water I had left some shoes on the pier to help me run to T1. Thank god for that plan. I had modified some old trainers so I could put them on quickly without show laces. 
Like in training I ran out of the water, unzipping my wetsuit and rolling my goggles and swim cap inside the sleeve of my right arm. Unlike in training I realized after running about 50meters that the goggles and cap found their way out of the sleeve and fell down. I had to run back to pick them up (30 sec wasted)
One thing I did not realize is how taxing running our of the water is. I was slow jogging but it somehow felt like a full on sprint. I even got a stitchon my right side. I ran back to T1. I had prepared a foot bath to clean my feet but did not use it. This T1 should have been real fast but it wasn't. I rolled down the suit took it off, wated a bit of time struggling with the sunglasses caught on the straps of the helmet. than ran odd bare foot with thebike. I had carefully attached the bike shoes to the bike with rubber bands like the pros do. After passing the transition mat, I got on the bike (no I did not hop on it like a pro...I did not dare, this will take more training). Unfortunately the exit of the transitiona area was uphill which made it harder to get going on the bike when you don't have the shoes on. I pushed on the pedals and slipped. The rubber bads broke, the bike stopped and I was left awkwardly trying to balance on the bike with the bike shoes rubbing on the floor.
I managed to put my feet back on the top of the shoes and got the bike moving again. Then I realized I had not loosened the shoe's velcro bands... After a minute or two, I managed to put my feet in the shoes and started to accelerate. Then I realized that I had forgotten to attach my water bottle with the velcro band between the aero bars. DAMN! trying to do that while riding is asking for trouble. I took me a good 3- 5 minutes while riding slowly to attach the bottle properly. With all these mistakes, I am guessing I could have saved close to 5 minutes off my total time. Lesson learned I hope.
I started pushing hard on the pedals. Soon I was in cardiac zone 4.5 -  4.7 and passing quite a few people.
When I reached about 1/3 of the bike distance, I decided it would be a good idea to fuel. I munched on some kind of powerbar 300 - 400 cal which was really hard to swallow. The bike ride was fun but also quite challenging with some tough hills.
I passed a couple dozens people on the bike.
When I look at the garmin data, I find that there seems to be a lot of potential to gain time on the flats and downhill as my heart rate quickly drops in the 150's.
Then it was time for the run. T2 went without incidents. However, I did slow down in transition, second guessing myself to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. 
I ran off fairly quickly at first (6:30 pace) but quickly I felt that tackling a run after of couple of hours of other sports is something to get used to. My pace dropped consistently each mile to reach about 8:00 pace towards the end of the run. 48:47 for 6.5 miles is nothing to brag about for me but I have to admit, I was really tired towards the end. The garmin data reflects that as well. My heart rate kept going up and up from the start of the run to the end. The rising heat of an amazingly sunny day didn't help with that either.

Sunday, I planned to go out for an hour bike followed by an hour run.
Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes of riding I crashed with my bike and I have been off physical activity since then. 
I was riding hard on my favorite run trail and leaned my head down for a couple of seconds to take a sip of drink and When I looked at the road again, the trail was splitting in 2 and before I could do anything my front when was a couple of inches off the right edge of the trail. The edge was rounded and my front tired slipped, sending me down to an immediate fall. I must have been going 20 to 25mph at the time I fell and the fall was hard. 
I fell directly on my left hip and slipped on the tarmac for about 7-10 yards.
I was wearing my TYR carbon top and shorts and the shorts helped limit the mount of skin burn. In addition to that, the skin on my left ankle, left calf, elbow and shoulder was burned at various levels.
Surprisingly the bike was almost intact. Aside from a few scrapes on the left handle, the was no apparent damage.
When I got up from the fall I felt very dizzy from stopping in the middle of a zone 5 effort so abruptly. The pain on the left side of my body was also immediate and it took a minute or 2 for me to collect myself before I could jump back on the bike. 
After the fall, with the bleeding and the pain, I did not feel like going on and headed back home.
I cleaned the wounds and shaved but it was not sufficient to prevent an infection. On Wednesday, my angle and hip were swollen, red and painful.
I decided to go to the doctor to get some medication. I am planning more exercise this week end and I am not currently in physical condition to do so.

One thing I found remarkable is that despite the incredible about of friction on my shorts at the hip level when I fell, my shorts showed no sign of damage and scrapes. The quality of this garment is mighty impressive...

Anyway. This week was yet another rest week..

Another annoyance this week was a letter from the organizers of ES140 sending me a partial refund for the race entry fee. Yes partial!! Can you believe it? They fail to plan a race properly and as a result had to cancel it which cost me and probably most participants cancellation fees for planes and reservations and in turn they cannot even refund the entry to the race fully. Just unbelievable....

The Salt Lake bike tour was not a race. It takes place on the Salt Lake marathon course and is actually supposed to be limited to 30 mph.
Still, I really wanted the experience of riding with others and get a feel for that biking competitive event.  This was my first biking event ever. 
The tour started at 6 am in the pitch black night in the rain. I really did not feel very safe. Having no light was a challenge and the rain was reducing the visibility even further. At the halfway point the visibility improved with the day light.
The tour was really fun, I learned to draft behind other cyclist (eventhough it won't be authorized in my triathlons),led the race (oops the tour) for a while.
We finished the course in a little over an hour and because of the rain and visibility issues I didn't push very hard. I finished in the top group satisfied with this fun first experience.
When I stopped the bike to get some food at the end of the course, I quickly cooled down and with the rain and a bit of 35F cool wind, I became hypothermic almost immediately. I had planned to return home biking but it quickly became evident that I was in no condition to do so. I stopped at a cafe and warmed up in front of the fireplace for an hour and then requested a pick up.. 
Fun experience overall
Today, was another first for me. In my Masters swim class I broke 1 mile swimming. Okay it took me about 45 minutes but I finished...
I would even say that I could have swum longer. I did not feel exhausted to the point of drowning.. Encouraging.
This week, I still have to plan my training. Since I finished my spinning class, I have been a bit off my game in terms of training. With the start of the swim group I need to re-plan my biking and running times around that. My finanal phase of ironman training for my race in September starts mid-June so I have to have a solid plan until then.
Currently the thinking is Swim 3x per week Monday, Wed., Thu. @6am
Then 1 long run per week, 1 fast sustained (tempo) run. I am thinking of doing 1 hour on the treadmill at 9mph for that. I have never trained that way but I did that a couple of weeks ago and it really pushed my more than I probably would have done by myself outside. I will probably need a 3rd run somewhere in the week but I am undecided on what to do. Maybe a mid distance 6 to 10 miles with the dogs, Maybe some speedwork...
The bike is where I am most unsure. I should probably go to work and back with my bike as the weather allows, but it is still a bit cold for that. Also the 6am swim means I would have to bike on the road at night to get there and I dont like that. Another solution would be to buy a trainer but I am a bit short on cash as I am remodeling the basement right now...

First of all, I made it safe. I was nowhere near the explosions when they occurred and I witnessed none of the dreadful events as I was already in my plane back home when they occurred.
Therefore, I will not speak about the attack other than to say that my heart goes to the families of the victims of the bombing. I am incredibly shocked and in complete disbelief that anyone would target the joyful and peaceful crowd that the running community is. I mean, I don't care what your motives are. I can not imagine what your message could possibly be to target runners and their cheering families and kids. 
I will stop there as I am already starting to feel pissed off...

Well, I did not plan this trip very carefully. A couple of days before, I realized that unlike the many other marathons I have run, this one starts pretty late in the morning. Yes, 10am for a marathon start is far later than any other foot races I have participated in. That said, I should have been more careful while planning my plane tickets. I booked my return flight to Utah at 2:40pm the day of the marathon. Needless to say, that is a tight schedule and a great incentive to run fast.

I stayed at the Ramada hotel in Boston, one of the only hotels that had vacancy a couple of months before the race and that was fairly close to downtown. I arrived there Sunday night at 11:30pm. Yep a tight schedule I said. I would have liked to arrive sooner, maybe even a day earlier to enjoy the city, but the marathon week end is so busy in Boston that all the flights and hotels seem to double or triple in price. I could not find an affordable direct flight so I booked a 1 stop flight with a late arrival time.
The hotel was not terrible but not that nice either, For a 5 hour night, it was going to be plenty sufficient. However, $250 a night was a bit stiff for it.. The taxi cab driver that took me from the airport to the hotel confessed that this hotel is normally $80 a night...
The late arrival at the hotel the day before the race on Monday meant that I had not had the opportunity to pick up my bib at the expo. The weeks before the race I struggled to find a solution as the race organizers stipulated on the website that there would be absolutely no bib pick up on race day.
A week before the race, I put a message on the marathontalk.com website (a popular British podcast about marathon running) and on the Boston race page a very nice Bostonian offered to pick it up for me and drop it at my hotel.
Saved! 
On race day, I woke up at 6am, not feeling too bad. I took my breakfast and the hotel shuttle dropped me at the train station. After a 10min ride on the red line, I arrived at Boston common park where the bus loading to the start line was underway.

From the moment I arrived in the bus loading area I was impressed with the logistic and organization. The buses loaded quickly, then a volunteer would raise a flag to signify that the bus was full and ready to go. When the wave of buses left, a new one would come in for loading not 10 seconds afterwards. Impressive. Taking into account that these buses had to haul about 25000 people to the start line (about 500 bus loads), getting the timing so right was absolutely awe inspiring.

The bus ride took a good 30 - 45 min. I wanted to sleep but the seating position in these school buses is notoriously uncomfortable so I tried to enjoy the scenery. To be honest, the view was pretty bland most of the way. A sort of generic highway with woods on each side.. Pretty boring.

After the bus unloading I had to use the bathroom, and no surprise there. long lines in a chilly March morning. I took about 30 min for me to get there, and by that time it was getting a bit late for me to get to the start line since I was starting in wave 1.
I jogged / ran the mile to the start line. And when I arrived in my starting corral area, I was impressed with the organization once again. I have run big city marathons before. In Los Angeles, for example, and as in every marathon I have ever run, the starting area is just chaos. People are escalating barriers in a futile attempt to reach their starting corral, crowds are tightly pressed and shoving is the law. 
Not so with Boston. Despite being the biggest, most crowded event I have ever taken part in, the starting area is a model of order.
Departure is divided in 3 waves starting at different times based on pace. Then, each wave is subdivided in corrals signaled with clear signs by bib number and pace, with open entry points so you don't have to perform any stunt to get to your exact spot. Yes, truly amazing. It seems simple enough, but I have never seen that before, and with 25000 people to manage, it was done better and in a more orderly fashion than marathons with 500 people I have been a part of. Bravo Boston!

Since everyone is able to get to their exact right starting spot, when the gun went off, every one around you starts at the right pace, The elbowing and pushing chaos that rules most marathon starts is minimized here.

I started at about 6:30 pace. A bit faster than my overall projected (qualifying) pace. This meant I did have to do a bit of slalom around people in the first couple of miles.
The atmosphere was completely wild at the start, The cameras were filming, the crowds were cheering loudly and this was incredibly electrifying. I am glad that the other runners slowed me down a bit because I may have over done it otherwise. I completed my first mile in 6:47

Boston is something else... From mile 1 and one, the crowds a cheering and encouraging and screaming louder than at a Justin Bieber concert. I have never experienced anything like it. You really feel like a movie start. High-fives along the course!
I thought that after a while the crowds would start calming down, dispersing, but the course remains lined with super loud crowds from start to end. Incredible!

My running felt great. Maybe it was the crowd cheering, maybe the favorable altitude, the great weather and temperature. I felt like I was effortlessly flying.
I managed to maintain the pace between 6:25 and 6:45 without struggling.
I took water every other mile after mile 3 or 4, plus had 3 gels while running.

Mile 2     6:30
Mile 3     6:30
Mile 4     6:21
Mile 5     6:42
Mile 6     6:25
Mile 7     6:30
Mile 8     6:39
Mile 9     6:35
Mile 10     6:42
Mile 11     6:40
Mile 12     6:33
Mile 13     6:35

At the midway point, I glanced at my watch. I had just run a half marathon in 1:26!  A new PR for me. Wow, this meant 4 minutes ahead of a potential sub 3 finish. On top of that I didn't feel too bad. I was pushing the pace a bit especially on the short uphill sections but it really felt like a pace I should be able to maintain. I tried not to get too excited and refocused on the race. 

Mile 14     6:34
Mile 15     6:48

At about mile 15, I started feeling just a bit tired for the first time. With 11 miles to go, it was manageable. However the next 6 miles would prove to be a real test.Mile 15 is where the hilly section begins. It's nothing too hard, just rolling hills, with a net gain for 5 miles. Then comes the notorious Heartbreak hill. Again, I have done much tougher climbs in Utah. But at mile 21 and after a succession of seemingly never ending rolling hills, it does take a toll.

Mile 16     6:28
Mile 17     7:03
Mile 18     6:59
Mile 19     6:45
Mile 20     7:09
Mile 21     7:37

The hills felt hard but I was still hanging in there. Limited the loss of time. At that point I really could touch the sub 3.

After Heartbreak hill started the easiest part of the course. All downhill from here. Unfortunately, this is when things started to get very wrong for me.
At the time where I should have been accelerating, my legs seem to seize up. They were very stiff and painful. At the time I really thought this was due to my lack of preparation. I had skipped a few long runs due to injury and had basically done less running prep that I have done for most marathons. Now I am not sure this is actually the case. More on that later.

Now I was in a world of pain and it was going to be a fight to finish.

Mile 22     6:53
Mile 23     7:15
Mile 24     7:33
Mile 25     7:51
Mile 26     8:11
Mile 27 (0.45)     8:18

I crossed the line in 3:02:18, grateful that it was over.
I was so close to the sub 3 this time. Sooo close!. Really I lost it in the last 3 miles of the race. And really, even looking back, there is nothing I could do about. It wasn't a lack of determination, a mental check out, or giving up. Just my body breaking down against my will. For that reason I have no regrets. 
The race was such an incredible experience that exceeded the Boston hype and all my expectations.

After reflecting on the race I think my fast decline at the end of the race was mostly a nutritional issue. Given the amount of pain and tightness I felt in my muscles during the race, I was fully expecting to be extremely sore the next day. I wasn't. I experienced the normal mild soreness that typically occurs after I run this distance but nothing unusual. If I analyze my nutrition and hydration in the race, I took in only water and only 3 gels (I normally have at least 6). I also remember feeling hungry in the last couple of miles.
I think my declining pace at the end of the race was due to either a lack of electrolytes or lack of food, or combination. The water intake may have been too much without adequate supplementation with electrolytes.
Next time... I hope I can run St George again this year. It might give me that last opportunity to break 3.

After the race I was once again amazed by the organization. A well thought out chute with enough walking distance to cool down while consuming food, warming foil blankets that volunteers taped around your neck so that it would free your hands to eat, an incredibly efficient checked bag pick up zone.. An amazing sum of details and well thought out procedures, helpful volunteers that made the post race experience all the sweeter.

Once thing was left on my mind. I had a plane in an hour and I still had to pick up my stuff from the hotel (opposite side from the airport). I asked the volunteers where to catch a cab. It was less than a block away and when I got there, the cabs were all lined up and ready to go. I caught one immediately, drove to the hotel, had the driver wait for me to pick up my stuff and then rushed to the airport. I passed through the security area quickly and arrived at the gate while the boarding was finishing.
Yes I was still in my shorts and all salty but I made it. 

Boston is now my reference as being the Marathon of all marathons. It is an exhilarating experience that every runner should experience at least once in their life.
What is next? I still have plenty to look forward to in my running life. A sub 3 hour marathon, maybe a jump to some great ultra races in the future. 
I am still training for my Ironman triathlon and this remains the main focus of 2013.

Using the awesome marathontalk.com network I was able to find someone to pick up my bib and take it to my hotel. Yay!. SO my travel arrangements remain unchanged.

In what world is this an acceptable communication? After training months and months of preparation, planning and training for the race, a couple of lines and ...DONE! Let's just forget about it.
No way! Needless to say I signed up for another race the same day but it took me almost a full day to cancel all travel arrangements and re-book for the new event. Oh.. and of course it cost me real money to do that. So far $250 in cancellation fees of my hard earned $$...
I am feeling a bit down today after the news even though I found a new event to participate in. The reason for cancelling is just unforgivable..  Because another event exists that's too close to this one they have to cancel?!!! What!? The Chesapeake Endurance Festival event has been going for years. How did you not know about it before organizing this one?

Ok, so I could not find an affordable flight that gets me in Boston in time to pick up my Bib at the convention center before the race. I called and emailed but was not able to reach anyone. So potentially I'll have to cancel this one...

All this for a stupid bib.. It sounds so idiotic that I could not pay someone to just mail it to me in advance.

Well... Still waiting to hear back from the administrators.

This Saturday I woke up at 6am to go to my last significant run before the Boston marathon.
The day before I had picked up my bib in the Salt Lake Running company store where I book a bunch of triathlon gear as well. The had some TYR carbon triathlon tops for 50 % off. I bought all the ones they had of my size!
This is what I wore to this race and it felt great. 
The race started with about 2 miles of uphill running (my weakness) so I decided to save my legs and not go too crazy in the part of the race. Off the starting mat I was in 15th pace, worked my way to 13th and during the climb, lost a few spots and ended up in 20-22nd pace on top of the hill.
Now things were going to change. I glanced at my watch to see that I had just tackled the first 2 miles in 15:30. Not too bad for uphill running, and I was not too winded. Downhill I pushed the pace to about 6 min per mile and slowly started to catch some runners.
One at a time I was passing back the runners that had passed me uphill.
Soon, I was entering the top 10. 
I had been following a runner since the beginning of the downhill portion slowly gaining ground on him and at about mile 6 I finally passed him. I stayed in the leadto mile 8.5. Unfortunately he passed me again and could not catch him on the finish line. I really need to work on that finish kick...
I ended finishing 7th overall out of about 350 runner which is not bad. Also I got my first age division win ever with a nice glass medal as a reward! SWEET!
This was my fastest running in a long time and my legs felt it. They were sore for days after this run. I definitely need to do more fast running. I am starting to lose focus there and lose speed.