Whew, what a day. Finally got home a little while ago. Been up since 4AM and started running at 7. The weather was fantastic. We had a cold front go through last night which made the temperature in the high 50's at race time and stayed nice throughout. I had a really good race. I finished in at 1H:37M:57S. I was 47th overall out of 527 finishers and placed 7th in my age group. I kept an average pace of 7:29/mile.
It was so cool running around the track. The curve bankings tower over your head and the track looks so much more narrow than on TV. Hard to believe they runs 3 cars wide in those curves! It was a weird feeling when I got to turn four running under the spot where Dale Earnhardt died.
From the track, we ran to the beach for a quick glimpse of the ocean. On the way there, we had to run over this huge bridge over the Halifax River. Going over the first time, I didn't lose much time and felt decent when I made it back to go over the bridge again. The view at the top of the bridge was beautiful. The sun had just come up and was big and orange reflecting off the river (I wish I had a camera). The second time over messed me up. My 7:15 miles turned into 7:45 miles. Luckily, there was only a little more than three miles to the finish. At lease my mile times got faster after my worst mile.
After the race was over, it was back to the hotel and then we went over to the Daytona Experience. We all had a great time. They have a lot of great exhibits and interactive simulators. we also got to go on a tram tour that takes you around the track and infield. We all had a crack at the ARCA racing game, Tommy got the fastest lap of the day! Unfortunately, someone edged him out a little later. The coolest simulator put us into a mini racecar that moved with the game. I cussed Jenny...I was passing her and she says she didn't know I was there until she creamed me and sent me flying through the infield. Also saw a NASCAR 3D IMAX movie. We had seen it in St. Augustine, but mot in 3D. It is an awesome film!
It was a great weekend and we are already planning to go back...