What a run! First marathon as a Master and was able to PR by over 2 1/2 minutes!!!
Coming in to this race I wanted to do good and felt I could but was second guessing my quality and quantity of harder workouts since Boston that would help be break that elusive 2:40. Before that start Dave told me today was the perfect day to PR and to just go for it. That finalized my decision to take it out harder than usual and see if the training was there. We had a great tail wind for the first several miles and I was shirtless by 5 which is pretty early in the race for me to be getting naked. That wind combined with the late start and warmer temps had me drinking at every station which I should be doing anyway I suppose. The legs were feeling the pace around 6 but I just kept telling myself to keep pushing. Made it up Veyo without any issue and it was actually nice to have some rest from the downhill. Pushed up Dameron harder than in the past and was able to catch Amber just as we crested the top of those hills and tried to pick it up some more. Came through the half at around 1:21 something and was pretty beat and was thinking "dang it I went out to hard again." Thankfully I didnt bring music and that help a lot with being able to focus on racing and not just running and was able to buckle down for the pounding that was to come. Between the 1/2 and Chuck-a-Walla is kind of a blur but I think I caught and passed a couple through here. I was hurting but could still keep the legs moving and tried to use every scrap of downhill I could cause I knew once I had to climb or it flattened out I was going to slow. I saw Steve up ahead just before heading into town and he was coming back to me. I thought that if I could catch him we could work together to sub 2:40. He kept looking down at his watch so I knew he was after something and he started picking up the pace and it was more than I had in me to catch up. The legs finally said they had had enough around the turn onto Diagonal St. Up until that point I was able to get something from them when I pushed but it was going fast after that turn. Hit a little bit of a 2nd wind for a couple blocks here and passed another guy but then it left and it was a battle like I have never fought before to keep up a decent pace. One of the clocks on the side of the road was at 2:38 just before making the last turn to the park and I tried super hard to pick it up in hopes of still getting that sub 2:40 but I was out of juice and too far away. As I neared the line I was thinking this might be the race where I go down after crossing the line cause my legs were done! About three steps after stopping and before I could collapse I was caught up in a great big bear hug by my incredibly AWESOME little bro (who once again rocked this race!!!) which was not only great but it kept me from falling down. I am in awe after every race of his ability and determination. So not the sub 2:40 but still was able to get much closer than before and PR so Im really happy with how things played out. Ran as hard as Ive ever run a marathon and stayed mentally tough the whole race. Two things Ive never been able to combine in a marathon. It is really nice to have a marathon play out in a positive way after years battling injury and so-so races.
6:08, 6:18, 6:02, 5:51, 6:05, 5:57, 5:57, 6:46, 6:29, 6:19, 6:36, 6:15, 6:11, 6:05, 5:51, 5:41, 5:54, 5:53, 6:19, 6:03, 5:49, 6:10, 6:00, 6:15, 6:18, 6:26, 1:45(6:17)
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