Notes
Don't ever go to a party (even a baby-shower) the day before a race again! Yes, technically you ate a lot of carbs, but they had more fat and dairy and less soluble fibre than your system is accustomed to! Not good. And hydrate the day before. 3 cups coffee and 2 cups tea is not a good start.
But... once I ran through the digestive woes in the first 5 miles, and accepted the fact that water/gatorade stops were not going to be every 2 miles (or even at regular intervals), I had a good race!
First, the Type A response: even with all of the above *and* a cold *and* a headwind, I was still only 1:19 behind my PR.
Second and more important: I planned my work and worked my plan. (Thanks, Horatio Alger.) 3 miles of warm up; assess; easy increasing pace to "comfortably up-tempo" until mi. 10; reassess; run as fast as feels reasonable for the remaining 3 miles. It worked, I had enough in the tank, and I was able to drive us home safely in the pitching rain (after consuming hot chocolate, a donut and 1/2 a bagel w/ peanut butter at the expo, followed by more choc, coffee, and a pancake & egg breakfast at The Egg & I).
Splits:
1 - 10:49 (10:49)
2 - 21:10 (10:21)
3 - 31:26 (10:16)
4 - 41:23 (9:57)
5 - 50:59 (9:36)
6 - 1:00.24 (9:25)
7 - 1:09.49 (9:25)
8 - 1:18.57 (9:08)
9 - 1:29.03 (10:06) * gu break! know where you gu is so you don't fumble...
10 - 1:38.09 (9:06)
11 - 1:47.14 (9:05)
12 - 1:55.57 (8:43)
13 - 2:04.27 (8:45)
.1 - 2:05.37 (10:00) - need to work on navagating crowds, turns, & chutes