Notes
2 mile warm up, 15 miles "hard" on Magnolia, 1 mile cool down. I definitely approached this morning like a race. Not so much in the way of competition, but moreso to get myself to a place to hurt more than usual. We started from the west end of Mags, 7.5 out with a massive net downhill, then I'd climb my way back up from the depths of hell for the second half. I took off and pushed for the first 6 miles or so. My effort felt about as close to marathon pace as I could put in on the undulating road. I turned off my mile split alerts since my goal was just to run hard. I could tell that attacking the downhills was starting to allow abdominal cramps to creep in but as I made my way up the monster climb to the turnaround I was trying to conserve some energy so I let off the gas. I cruised back down after the flip but the next climb reduced me to a shuffle. I knew I'd struggle on the unforgiving hills but I was barely past halfway. Frank was on a totally different level but Will, Willie and Noah took a more conservative approach to the halfway point so after shuffling up past the firehouse I began to wonder how soon they would pick me off. I was resolved to just keep plugging away at whatever pace I could muster. The following major hill had a terrible bout of cramping paired with my legs filling with lead and topped off with a persistent headwind blasting me as I approached the summit. I was holding the wolves off but I again wondered for how long. I felt the darkness creeping in from the peripherals of my vision. A bonk of as coming on, I was paying a high price for my bravery. I was reduced to a walk on last 10% of the guard-rail hill. I only walked for a brief 10-15 seconds and never stopped my watch. I regained some semblance of a stride on the downhill and some mental clarity came back. I began to game of slowly ambling up the long demanding climbs followed by bombing the proceeding downhill. I had gotten over the last truly long hill and finally checked my watch about halfway down the other side expecting to see that I'd have 2 miles to go. In fact, I had 1200 before the end and it was just enough to give me a boost to make a final bid. Finished the 15 miles in 1:27:27 (5:50 pace). It was a deep dive into the darker side of running, when nothing seems to be won but the simple experience of being finished when you decide and not letting the cool hand of fate or death make the decision for you. There is much more to gain in the ways of strength but the experience itself is the prize today. (2x Medball)