I'm not sure what to make of it. Somewhere deep inside of me I thought I'd be closer to ten flat. A few weeks prior to the race I was out on a run with Matt and we were just flying. Running sub 7 wasn't a problem. So when I got on the run and plugged along at 7:45-8:00 pace I thought I would hold up. It didn't happen. I suffered a bunch and made a few mistakes like walking the aid stations to find myself crossing the finish with a 3:46. That might seem fast but when you're in Kona with all the other local heroes it's average.
The week after the race was disorientating. Even though I got 23rd in my age group, a significant improvement over my prior Kona race plus a ironman finishing time PR, knowing that it wasn't a "nearly perfect" race gave me a sour stomach -- literally. After a week on the beach, I came to grips with reality.
See you at the races!
