Buffalo Training Run 25K (17 miles)

The weather outside was perfect. A slight drizzle at 6 am, not bad. Today was the last training run before the Buffalo Run. I went out looking to run the course. It is a 25k for me. I ran it in 2006 and did 3:24. In 2007 I ran it in 2:56. What would 2008 bring?
As i left the parking lot I felt pretty good however, the first 4 miles were basically into a head wind. The pace was were I needed it but the effort to sustain it was a little rough. There is a pretty decent grind to the first aid station, only at mile 3.8. I hit it at 41 minutes and was pretty bummed. I decided that race day I would skip this aid station and just run right through. After the aide station you get a pretty lengthy downhill. I definitely make up time here. After that you hit the main part of the elevation. Its a switchback to the top of the mountain. After you hit the top you run on single track until you hit the next aid station. I hit it at 1:46 and that is mile 9.6. Then you basically RUN the rest.
During the training run, I had to stop for about 20-30 minutes due to the fact there were at least 40 head of Buffalo on the trail. Gotta love the Tatanka! The last few miles are brutal. Ankle busters all the way down. I finished the run in 2:48. I felt pretty good as much as I ran but man was I disappointed in the time.
For the next week, I want to focus on running on grinds, nice casual slopes. I lose so much time here in all my races and runs. I feel so much better over all but those damn grinds kill me.
On a separate note, the diet is going okay. I feel good and I seem to notice a change but the actual number of pounds isn't falling like I thought.
Well, lets keep our fingers crossed for Buffalo. I would take a 2:40.
Hey, guess what? Aspen turns 3 tomorrow. What a joy!