I bought Marley on Saturday and took her immediately to Bartlett Park for an 8 mile run. After the first few miles, she became accustomed to running next to me on the leash without putting a tree between us and clothes-lining us. The weather and the Christmas holiday have kept us out of the woods since, but we hope to return this weekend.
At David Ray's request, I give you the report...
It was fucking cold and crowded. This was my third road marathon and I have still yet to think of a real good reason why I would want to run a fourth. Over five hours of constant pounding tends to hurt a wee bit, especially for a big boy like me.
The absolute best part of this marathon (besides raising $$$ for the children of St. Jude!) was running the first half with my better half! This was my wife Jennifer's first half marathon and her first run over ten miles. I wanted to pace her most of the half just to make sure she was ok. I told her we would start out slow and then slow down from there, but she would have none of that. Hell, at times I had trouble keeping up with her! At mile 9-ish, I decided it was time for me to put my arse in a higher gear and left her to run her own race.
I felt good, but knew my goal of sub-5 hours was long gone. I caught up with Leigh Tanner at the 12 mile mark and chit chatted a bit. I told her to mosey on and stopped at the half turn-off to see Jennifer finish. I waited for what seemed like 10 minutes, but probably was more like 5 when I saw her cruising toward the finish line. After exchanging congrats and I love you's, I started the second half. The time clock now read 2:32:55...definitely not breaking sub-5!
The second half was fairly uneventful. Being so far back, I didn't have to fight for water or gels and had much of the road to myself. I passed a lot of lonesome runners in the next 7 miles and still felt good. I even had a good burst of speed around mile 17 that surprised me. At mile 19, I ran into an old high school friend who was entertaining the runners. I stopped for a few minutes to chat with him before moving on. No need to rush now, I just wanted to enjoy the run and the sunshine.
By mile 20, my hip and knee started to hurt more. My energy level was dipping, so I increased the gel consumption. Jan Show passed me here (same place as last year!), looking fresh and happy (she finished about 20 minutes ahead of me). I really need to get with her on strategy!!
During the next few miles, my hip/knee pain increased forcing me to slow down (as if I weren't already moving slow enough!). I could feel my energy leaving my body and the self-doubt replace the void. I didn't hit the wall until mile 25. The final 1.2 miles were a bitch. I struggled to keep up a shuffle and my legs were starting to cramp. They put a nasty little uphill section at mile 25.5 and I cursed them under my breath. The final quarter mile was thankfully downhill and I cruised in at 5 hours and 22 minutes (2 min slower than last year). After finishing and eating, I felt good without problems. If they asked me to run another 6 miles, I think I could have with little problem.
Maybe I could have finished a sub-5 if I had not paced Jennifer for the first half. This is irrelevant, because I wouldn't have missed running with her even if it meant a 6 hour finish for me! The next half marathon for her will be in March (Germantown) and, if she wishes, I will run with her then also! If not, then I will smoke her ass...and be waiting at the finish to see her in!
It's time to gear up for the Swamp Stomper (Jan 18th). With coaching help from Sherpa John, I will start my training over with low week day mileage and long runs on the weekends. My problems in the past was ramping up the mileage too fast, causing all sorts of aches, pains, and injuries...and burn out.
Almost past the 2k mark! Had I known I was so close, I would have gone the extra 0.7 on the treadmill today! I just had my shower, so no more for today...but, tomorrow we cross over 2,000 miles.
My sinuses have been freely flowing one minute and then stopped up the next. Three days of Thera-Flu have yet to clear my head. I don't have any body aches, so I guess I should be at least a bit thankful.
Two runs on the treadmill for a total of 10.2 miles cleared the sinuses for a bit, but once I got off the dreadmill, the Niagara Falls of snot continued. Of course, a bit latter and it was the Hoover Dam of snot.
I have run only 5 miles this week. I hate taper week. Hopefully, all my injuries will be resolved during this lazy, boring week. I can't wait for Saturday's marathon...I can finally run!
This will be my wife's first half marathon...first anything greater than 5k! I know she is ready and will do fine, but she is worried about the race and most worried about the weather. The projected low of 29 and high of 50 sounds like perfect running weather to me!
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