I ran the 3M Half Marathon this morning. The weather was great, 30s F, no wind. I actually kept my long sleep and headband on the whole time. However, we got to the start almost an hour early which was a mistake. I almost froze to death. Where did my Russian genes go? The race is in Austin, TX - goes point to point with a net down hill. However, looking at my Garmin elevation, there is still a lot of rolling hills that come into play through out the course. I felt pretty good this morning, so I decided to just go by feel and settle into a pace that felt pretty comfortable. I did a good job carb loading yesterday - had about 450g of carbs and had 2 bars this morning (1 of them 2 hours before the start, and another one right before = total 56g of carbs). Two salt pills before the start, none during. During the race I had two Carb-Booms! at miles 4 and 8.5. I tried a new flavor, raspberry, yuck! Switching back to Peach-Banana... I have really learned the last year that nutrition is key The race was pretty comfortable for the most part. I ran by myself with my iPod and had a good time. :) I saw a lot of people on the course that I train with, which made me pretty happy. Saw my buddy Randy at mile 7 and realized how lucky I am to have become a pretty strong runner this past year, while meeting such great people and having so much FUN!! If you look at my splits they are consistent, in true Dasha style. Except for mile 10, ugh, so embarrassing! This was the mile crossing town that has a good amount of hills in it and at 8AM this morning had us running right into the sun!! I slowed down a lot more than I wanted to, but quickly got right back on pace. Also - the ending was a bit rough physically and mentally. It was uphill and the finish was in sight, but looked so far away! Finished, went right to the Rogue tent to see Dr. Z and got some recovery ART. He said my leg was fine and just needed a beer and a nap :) He told me to take 2 days off, lets see how that goes.... Splits: (1) 7:36, (2) 7:20, (3) 7:23, (4) 7:21, (5) 7:29, (6) 7:31, (7) 7:26, (8) 7:20, (9) 7:33, (10) 7:52, (11) 7:23, (12) 7:22, (13) 7:18 (.1) 7:33 = Average Pace 7:31, 1:38:31 
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