This was my third time attempting State House to State House. On previous attempts I had gone 27mi and 36mi before bonking too hard to continue. I decided to use some residual fitness from a marathon training block to give it another rip.
I remembered most of the course up until mile 36 and as a likely consequence went out too fast, averaging just over 8 min/mi for the first 30. Then I took a nice walking break to eat a snack, after which things obviously slowed down.
Miles 37-47 were the toughest. I ended up walking briefly at the start of each mile before plodding along again. I also started to get sick of the Tailwind I was trying out in my hydration pack, and I was very distraught when the multiple water fountains I came across all were not functioning. However, I knew I was going to finish after hitting 40 - I just had to constantly remind myself to not relish the stoplight-induced pauses so much. A small detour was taken due to some construction on the bridge going into Providence, but I strolled into the city without too much drama otherwise.
Since there weren't any unsupported times yet, I didn't have a firm time goal (I just wanted to finish after my previous failures), but in the back of my head I did want to break 8. I think with proper volume and downhill training to really take advantage of the second half of the route, one (maybe me?) could go well below 7.
I'm thankful that I decided to take my nutrition more serious this time (mostly succeeding in hitting my carb/cal goals per hour via caffeinated gus interspersed with some solid foods), though I will probably carry a separate plain water bottle in future endeavors to avoid palette fatigue. 1L was just the right amount for this duration and warm-ish temperature, but some extra water would be nice for peace of mind. (Also I will wear more sunscreen.) All in all a good day!