Started about 7am. I had 5 bottles of liquid nutrition, including a bottle of cola. In retrospect this was a mistake due to the cold weather and lack of sweating - I had to pee really badly for like 17 miles!
Started at an ~8 minute/mile pace but soon found I was feeling much better than that pace, so I switched to 7:30/mile pace.
The entire ~0.0415 mile loop is on a slight incline (maybe 8-10 inches?) but you can really feel it, especially for the 630 loops it requires to finish the route. Started to really feel it on the extensor muscles on the outside of my lower leg, responsible for slowing down my lateral movement.
Switched directions every ~30 minutes. I was in the pain cave for the last ~80 minutes or so and I forgot to switch directions. Just me and a whale and some extreme discomfort. Probably should have switched directions.
Was feeling pretty great until about mile 19 when all the wheels started coming off. I felt very large rips/tears/blisters on the skin of my heels from all of the turning, and that was starting to get very excruciating. Took some Tylenol which slightly dulled the pain and let me finish strong for the last 7 miles.
Finished sub 3:20 which was a stretch goal of mine. Had my brother cheering me on after about mile 20 when he woke up and trudged over to the whale to see me finish.
Good vibes. All hail the whale.