What a Day!

Sunday was beautiful and the day was just fantastic.  The folks at the Dam Half/Dam Full were wonderful.  It was a very well run event.  Even better than last year !  Thanks folks!
I really did not know what kind of shape I was in for the Dam Full, but I figured that I should be good as long as I kept moving forward.  The hills were just what I expected, but the company was great and I got through the 1/2 way point (13.1 miles) in 2 hours and 42 minutes.  To put some perspective on this, last year I did the half marathon event and my time was 2:32.  So, I was going a little faster than expected, but not overly much so.  I began to think that my expectation of finishing close to 7 hours might be way over.
Then, as they say, the wheels fell off.
Not really, all was still good until about mile 22.  I think I should have stuck with Gatorade and taken some electrolyte tabs because I got a terrible headache and my belly began to, shall we say, sour.  I never actually got sick, but the same feelings I have at hour 13 of the 30 hour run came flooding back.  I walked VERY slowly up the Stairway to Heaven - it climbs about 700 vertical feet in a little more than half a mile - and was pleased to make it to the top.  Unfortunately, I got passed by about a dozen people during the climb.
Throughout the day I played leapfrog with a few guys and one in particular expected me to bomb the downhill the way I had been doing all day and catch him.  Alas, it was not to be.  I even quit looking at my watch as the wee thought of finishing under 6 hours seemed to slink away.  I decided that I had left most everything out there and would just focus on running reasonably comfortably to the finish.  As it turned out I crossed the line just over 6 hours in 6:01.
 . . .
I left a big pause in my typing - several days to be exact, but I just wanted to say a huge thanks to all the volunteers at the dam full for a fantastic day.  Next up is the MegaTransect in Castanea.
Next year maybe the Grand Slam ??