First of all, left it all out there, no regrets whatsoever. That said, there feels like more bad than good in this one. Learning experiences are welcome however.

The Bad:

1. 10 to 15 mph headwind the first 13 miles (until the turn around). That was a monster and I probably poured too much energy trying to keep my time. I knew that would hurt me but I just couldn’t stop myself.
2. Way more hills than I thought, I don’t know what i was thinking. I saw this on the website 616 ft Start Elev, 686.0 ft Max Elev 207.0 ft Gain and thought it was flat. Didn’t do nearly enough hills and I paid that price. The actual change based on GPS, which isn’t awesome, but is decently accurate: +3313.2 ft / -3297.4 ft / net: 15.8 ft . It felt like the entire race was uphill or at time quad trucking downhill.
3. The GU didn’t come until 1:15 in, where as I was told it would be at about 45-50 min based on my pace. That threw me.
4. I could have done ~3:04-ish if I hadn’t cramped up and had to stop to stretch. Both quads cramped up at times, and the final 1 to .5 miles was run stopping a few times, otherwise with the left calf completely locked up. As in barely usable, I had to use my quad to pick up my leg, oh my goodness those pictures should show me grimacing like a moe foe.
   

   (in red) landing on 'locked' left calf

5. The road had a nasty crown to the left I wasn’t used to, that’s probably what did in the calf and quad, running at an angle. Couldn’t run in the middle of the road or right side because that was the come back route.
6. Wicked side stitch for about 5 minutes starting at mile 8. Ran through it.

The Good

1. The feet in the Vibram Bikila’s held up well. A hot spot under the left pad but otherwise they seem great. I thought I would have taken a bit more of a beating considering my form went to shit, but apparently I beat up the muscles instead.
2. I left it all out there, I battled through the cramps, battled through everything and came away without walking once. I fought it all the way.
3. I ran a PR by 15 minutes.
4. I accomplished something. Not my goal of sub-3, but I still accomplished something.

Lessons Learned

1. Bring your own GU, seriously. You need to be in control of your GU and ideally even hydration better — especially in these smaller races.
2. (Some) races mix the gatorade so that there’s more powder than water.
3. Study (and ideally visit the course). Although this would have been hard as it’s a busy street that was blocked off. Still, no excuses for thinking it was flatter just because the net gain was small. Stupid, it’s an out and back course, of course there’s little net gain.

Edit: It turns out I was actually sick. I threw up and had nasty butt throw up 3 times last night. Yes, they came in pairs. My 4 yr old daughter has the same symptoms and pain. My son had thrown up the Thursday into Friday but we thought it was food poisoning. It makes me wonder how much the sickness took out of me for the marathon. Still pleased with the results, perhaps even more so now.