Couldn't sleep very well last night. Had to get up a few times from bed. Got up and made sure to put glide on delicate parts of my body. I wanted to get ready for the RMH half. Got dressed and headed to meet Dan by the statue of Dan Gable. Saw Dan B and started to warm up for the race. Race started on time (7:30 AM) and more than 300 runners headed towards the Iowa River. First mile: 7:28 min. There were a few young people in our 7:30 pace group we created. The question was if we could hang on to the target pace for the whole race.
First four miles: 7:30 pace. But then the course got harsh. Running uphill on Foster Rd was the first big obstacle. I started losing Dan. I knew it would be downhill going to the dog-park very soon. This guy talked to me by the long bridge before the Iowa River Power Co. and told me his name was Patrick B. I remember his name and remembered I met him in some January races. He seemed like he wanted to give up when we were on Fifth St. in Coralville. Crossed the split 30 seconds ahead of Dan.
Crossed highway 6 using the under tunnel. When we were by Hawkeye apartments, I saw this fast girl had to stop to tie her shoe laces (she later told me her name was Jenny O'Brien). Jenny tied her shoe, got up, passed me, and never saw her again until after crossing the finish line.
The hills at the Mormon Handcart park were definitely killers. I had to slow down a lot -I felt like I was crawling up those hills. When I entered the bicycle trail by Clear Creek, we hit other tough hills. Tried to use gravity on my favor when going downhill. Got some GU at the RunningWild water-stop just before entering Camp Cardinal. I could listen Dan was coming behind me. Being in familiar ground made me a little bit more comfortable. Not sure if Dan wanted to run next to me or he wanted to pass me on Melrose avenue. I was ready to give up. At that moment, I extracted some powerful mental energy and just kept going. Crossed Mormon Trek and just kept going. Got ahead of Dan again.
Finally we made a left turn towards Kinnick Stadium. I knew we were getting very close to the finish line. Tried not to give up and just kept moving my legs. I could listen to Dan coming behind me. Tried not to give up and just go. Had to do a few turns before seeing the finish line. Heard a couple of people shouting go Horacio go! and so I did. I was able to recognize Ross K and Kelly T cheering me up. Finished just a few seconds before Dan in 1:40:12 (7:39 MM).
Enjoyed the after race party. Plenty of gator and bagels. Met some runners and enjoyed seeing other people arriving at the finish line. I just got a half-medal, but I am supposed to get the other half when I run Run for the Schools in October 20th.
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