Redmond Watershed 12 Hour

Short: 64.9 miles, 2ND place (under 40)

Long Version ...
Even though it's only 25 minutes to the start from my house, I carpooled to the race with Shawn. I figured that would keep us both there longer if things didn't go as planned. It was supposed to rain so I brought an extra pair of shoes and socks and a long sleeve shirt just in case. I wasn't to worried about the weather because the trees are so thick and the trail was really dry from the lack of rain.
We got to the start as planned with just over 1/2 hour to prepare. One of the volunteers had hand made some really nice hats. It's not my thing but Jenn loved it and maybe I'll get a few SPOF credits for it. ;)
My goals for the race were.
1. Win and defend my title. Well Sam Thompson and Brandon Sybrowsky had both signed up to run so I figured my chances were slim but I was going to lie down.
2. Run a 10 min. mile for 12 hours. This would give me 72 miles and the under 40 course record.
3. Get at least a 1 hour PR over last year(get to 59.5 mile in under 11:00).
4. Finish, no DNF (no quiting with more than ~12 minutes left)

I started off good, running my own race and not getting caught up in the fast pace of the competition. I found myself quickly alone. I was a little behind the 2nd pack and way ahead of any third pack that might have been back there. After the 1st lap which was around 51 minutes I was feeling great but I was tired of running alone so I decided to try to listen to some music. That kept my mind busy for a while. The 1st 26 miles just came and went. I was running about 6.3 mph and past by the marathon mark at 4:12 and then the 50k mark in about 5:03. Those are good times for me if that as far as I was going but I wasn't even to the 1/2 way point yet.
The sun came out and made for a great day not too hot not too cold. And the rain that came early in the day was more like a mist than a rain.
Some where on my 7th lap I started to slow down. There was about 10 or so miles there where I struggled. I wasn't eating or drinking much and it felt like if I did it would come back up anyway. I did manage to get in a GU per lap during that time which kept me from completely bonking. Laps 7(1:08 including a pit stop), 8(1:06), and 9(1:06) were all over an hour and were the lowest part of the race. My energy level was zero and emotional level was right behind it. (why am I here, etc.) I passed by 50 miles in 8:45, that's 14 minutes slower than Mt. Si. I had to do something to get out of this funk I was in, so I changed the station on my headphones. That seemed to bring me the rest of the way back to life because I did the last two big loops right at an hour each. Alex the overall winner and new course recorder holder of nearly 80 miles was the runner to pass me all day, but he did it twice!
On to the small loops. I would normally like the small loop better than the big one because of all the roots and rocks and sharp corners. But I was getting tired and there is a lot of the trail that slopes badly to the left and that really bugs my hips and I felt like if I ran faster I would just be tearing myself up. So I took it easy and did 8?(I think) small loops. And with about 10 minutes left I decided I had had enough.

Follow up:
Monday, Today my quads are completely trashed. I hammered the downhills for all 12 hours. Looking at my speed graph I was still hitting 8 mph on the downhills even in my 11th loop.
Other bloggers that were there: TC, Eric B., Kendall K.
Goals 1 and 2 failed
Goal #3 1:12 PR (1:12 left when I reach 59.5 miles)
Goal #4 Done.