Ran the trailbreaker marathon on Saturday.

Did it as a long catered training run. As such I tried a couple new things before the race that I may want to try for IMWI. Things that I wouldn't have tried if I were to run this for a PR... Tried taking in liquid carbs at around 2am. That seemed to work really well. The second thing was using Perpetuem - which I have used before and liked but I tried it double dose in my Fuel Belt bottles. There were only 4 aid stations on the course.
The first 9 miles or so were pretty easy, ran on a bike trail. Then left that trail and off into the woods. The next 7 were extremely rugged. It rained the days before the race so pretty muddy and very slippery. This trail is mostly wide enough for one and it was an out and back course. Very hilly, the trail was covered in rocks - baseball to basketball sized. Lots of opportunities to turn an ankle. After navigating through all that. Basically come to a wall of a hill. Stairs are cut in so, take about 50 steps up this hill. At the top is a fire tower. Must climb that (4 stories) ring the bell at the top - this is the turn around point - and then head back down. Felt good here.
Things went well till about mile 19 or so. I used gels on the way out, but on the way back wanted to use the perpruem. I think it was too concentrated - caused some stomach issues. Also a bit dehydrated - due to the limited aid stations. So tried the run - walk on the way back. I was about 7 minutes slower on the second half.
So ended up with a couple nasty blisters - used my trail shoes, and a nice bloody ankle - don't know when that happened.
So I was 7 minutes slower than my planned pace. Did a 4:22:33 - was looking for a 4:15. The winning time was a 3:01.
Then aside from freezing afterward, it was about 38 degrees and windy. No sun at all. But no rain, so not too bad.
Then after cleaning up and resting a bit went for a nice 1/4 Pounder w/ cheese. :)
Did a nice spin this morning to loosen up the legs, followed by a 1.5 mile very easy run. That felt really good on the legs - then a 20 min swim.
Overall it was an okay day.