I can't tell you how to get better at your races, but I have to say I loved reading your post! You sound like me! Well, sort of.

The mental thing today remind me of today when I was near the end of my second 75 miler in two days and there kept being hill after hill, which my friends and I were all SOOOO hating. Finally when we turned a corner and I saw another hill, I said, "I LOVE climbing hills! That's MY hill! I call that hill! Get away from my hill, it's MY hill to climb. I'm the hill girl!!!"

I started doing it just to be goofy, but found it actually started to mentally help me. I couldn't eliminate the hills. Might as well embrace them!