You know, that's not the first time I have heard this. I can't remember if it was Jason Fitzgerald, or David Roche, but one of their podcast guests had the same remark. To be faster, go faster, obviously running intervals, fartleks, etc. is a way to do this, but ultimately it's on you for running fast. How did that moment feel to you? Congrats on the finish, that is lifetime achievement and such a well-written report. The last photo of you in front of the gate looked pretty serious.“If you want to run faster, you have to run faster,”
I arrive at 6 p.m., half an hour ahead of my goal. I am perfectly elated, and walk right past the aid station up to where Laz is sitting in a camp chair with his bib punch. “You can take the marathon and be second overall” he says, a canned lie he tells everyone. “I didn’t come here for another dog tag” I answer as he gives me the punch, spelling I NAILED BFC on the bib (some get an F in place of the N).
I think I could have pushed the pace a bit to avoid such a close finish. There were a lot of times when I was content to be simply moving forward at a sustainable speed. I didn't spend much time at aid stations or resting, so making better time on the flat and downhill sections would have helped. It was strange getting to Laz, it was a scene I had envisioned many times and felt like a lifetime moment. But I was just one of hundreds of entrants to Laz and he was having a conversation with someone else standing nearby. I asked him if I could hike to the finish but didn't even pay attention to his answer, knowing I couldn't trust it. The last two hours were mentally exhausting, alternating between thinking I had a comfortable finish and that I could still throw it all away. If you go for the 50K and miss the final deadline, it's recorded as a DNF, same as someone who bailed out at Rat Jaw. Thanks for your comments!