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* '''Heat'''. [[Running in the Heat]] is always harder, and this year's race was quite warm. In fact, it was a dangerous, insidious warmth that tended to creep up on people. I found that my [[Under Armor Heat Gear Top]] was wonderful, and I regularly tipped water over it to keep me cool. I think the heat did impair my performance a little, but it was not my main problem.
* '''Altra Olympus'''. I the entire race in my [[Shoes| Altra Olympus Shoes]] and they seemed to work remarkably well.
* '''Running uphill'''. Yet again I experimented with running up the steep hills at Umstead. My approach was to run up the hills with my [[Heart Rate]] at the same level it was on the flat. This means my pace is barely faster than walking pace, but it was faster, so it was more efficient. Later in the race I did walk up the hills because walking uses slightly different muscles which has other benefits beyond efficiency. It was also good to walk so I could drop my arms down and try to relieve the stress on my shoulders from carrying the water bottle. (This experiment between running and walking only applied to the steep hills in the "saw tooth" area; I ran up all the other hills.)
=What Didn't Work=
* '''Graveyard recovery'''. I was in surprisingly good shape after Graveyard, but 4 weeks is just not enough time to recover between hundred mile races. This was a simple mistake on my part, as I did not calculate the dates between the races when I signed up.