Beautiful morning for a race. It was in the forties when I left the house but by the time the sun came up it was in the fifties and rising so very nice temps. I could have raced without paying as I actually signed up, got my bib and left without giving them money. I then realized it and went back to give them their $15. The lady made sure to tell me not to put the number on my hoodie if I wasn't going to be wearing it for the race. Thank you for that information. I got all warmed up and stuff and was ready to go at the starting line when I realized I had forgotten to put my anklet on. We had under 5 mins to go so I ran to my car real fast and ran back just in time to start. There was a group of kids that sprinted out like mad hyenas but based on their general attire and stride it was pretty obvious I would see them shortly. Oliver was here today and Miguel (not their real names but that's what their names should be. If I named them they would have those names. They are good names.) I figured Miguel would get first followed by Oliver and then either me or St. Patrick (Green shirt). Unfortunately Rebecca wasn't there to share in the namings. After about a half a mile it was Oliver in first then Miguel who came from somewhere in the back. Rodrigo and I followed behind them. Rodrigo was older than me but he and I were right in the same pace. At one point I just got tired and went behind him so he could be my wind sail. He slowed down quite a bit at that point so I went around him but I never put a lot of space between us. At this point Miguel had passed Oliver and was about 40 seconds ahead. Oliver was about 20 seconds ahead and Rodrigo was about 8 seconds behind me. St. Patrick was nowhere to be found. I got my second wind in the last mile actually and I picked my pace up quite a bit. I left Rodrigo behind and nearly caught up to Oliver. Miguel was gone. He finished a bit under 18. Oliver finished in 18 flat and I finished 9 seconds behind him. I honestly could have passed him in the last half mile but I just didn't care anymore. I felt like I was going to crap my pants if I exerted anymore effort. On a side note, my dinner last night consisted of Little Caesars jalapeno pizza, a big cup of Sprite, and a box of Reese's Pieces. I regretted that immediately after, in the morning and during the race... and after. And right now to be honest. Bad choices... Bad choices. I didn't poop my pants though so that was good. After the finish I cooled down for 1.5er. We then had to wait for everyone to finish. There was a women who decided she wanted to do the whole race with crutches. Why? Why?!? It took FOREVER. Not sure what was the driving force behind that one but she finished and we got our cool little awards for age groups. Oh and there was an old man in slacks and a decent shirt and a cane who won an award. He totally beat crutches. He's the man. So I had an AP of 5:48. I actually stopped my watch at 18:07.82. Last year on this same course I ran an 18:12 so it's good to know I haven't lost much. Splits: 5:45, 6:03, 5:40, 5:16 (.1) Umm not sure what happened on the second mile. | 