I enjoyed your report too. It sounds like you got more tired than I did at one point but also recovered better.
I had one instance in the race of a shadow or something in a tree that made my head move too. It could have been a hawk (I'd seen them from the trail before) or branch moving in the wind; after noticing it, it seemed a little strange and unnecessary for me to move for. ...but a monkey? I didn't think of that. Perhaps it could have been the 800lbs. gorilla that others have talked about who jumps on people's backs in long races. Maybe it was good that you ducked him.
there was another point where the sun was shining in patches on the underbrush and I was looking at it thinking it was 3 chickens sitting on various downed trees. I knew it wasn't chickens but that's the pattern my brain chose to resolve out of the confusion.
Looks like you're still taking time off for the tendonitis. I hope it's not bad. My pains come and go which is odd--one would expect them to just go.