Day 2 at the Gasparillia Race Weekend started well. The temperature was warm and I went out at a brisk pace in the marathon hoping to match or better my time from last year. I was felling good and ran well through the halfway point with a split of 1:36. Around 15 miles it started to rain and the wind picked up. By 18 miles I was feeling the effects of over 30 miles of racing and started to fall off pace a bit. I started walking through the aid stations and my pace per mile was
creeping up over 8 minutes. At 24 miles I did some quick math in my head and figured the 3:20 pace group could catch me in the homestretch if this decline continued. I managed to summon enough energy to get back to 7:40 pace and finished strong with a chip time if 3:17:55. Less than 2 minutes later a small 3:20 pace group led by my friend Roger Marquis (pacer extraordinaire) came cruising across the line. Although my marathon time was about 3 minutes of last year's, my total combined time for 3 events was only 30 seconds off and my placement improved from 6th in 2008 to 4th this year. Given that I'm a year older and the conditions were a bit tough, I would consider my strategy to run more aggressive this year was a success. The rain really picked up after I finished and I felt bad for those who were still on the course as I wandered around downtown Tampa trying to find my car that I had parked rather hurridley in the dark at 5:40 AM. I managed to locate just before hypothermia set in.