NCR Trail Marathon - RunMarathon

The race started out well. I managed to keep out of the way of the fastest people and get into a rhythm early. The first mile was short ran it in 7:52 which was faster than I thought I should be going. Got into a good pace when we got onto the actual trail and was averaging 8:20-8:40 for the first 10 miles or so. My left leg tightened up a bit and wouldn't loosen up for about 5 miles. I've had that problem on some of my long runs - usually after 10 miles or so or during the run on a half IM. It eventually did losen up by itself. Hooked up with a small group and chit-chatted to help the time pass. Water stations are about 2.5-3 miles apart so you had to plan a bit for them. If I was just drinking , I would grab a Gatorade and a water. Every other water stop I would pull out my cliff shots and take one just before I got to the water and drank some to wash it down. Seemed to work well.

Saw my wife and father at Mile 5 and I was a good push to keep going.

The group I was with picked up the pace at about mile 12 and my HR climbed over 160 so I let them go and just settled into my pace. Hit the halfway point in around 1:51 and was feeling good. No real pain in the legs and felt comfortable.

Things changed around mile 16. I was feeling some pain in my Left knee that was reminiscent of my ITB problems from a few years ago. I altered my running style a bit - some more flexing of my knees and it went away. I was still running in the 8:20-8:40 range to mile 20. That's when the feet started to get sore and my legs started hurting. It had been 5 years since I had gone that far, so I kind of expected it. Just kept telling myself to suck it up - less than an hour to go.

At Mile 24 the course is back onto roads for the final push. I had blisters on each ball of my foot but they weren't too bad. The left one popped, but I wasn't going to let that stop me this close to the finish. The vast majority of the final 2 miles is uphill, but I ran as much of it as I could. Always saying "just to the next cone...next light pole" My legs were dead. Ran the last 2 miles in 20 mins but finished strong. Passed 3 people on the last uphill just before the finish.

I think my pacing was pretty good. I didn't start hurting until the last 4-5 miles, which i expected.

Drank a bottle of protein shake and some water and walked/limped to the school lobby where the food was. Tried to stretch a bit and kept moving.


Needed to put more miles on my legs. Not enough long runs in the training. I did all of the ones that were prescribed, but didn't start training early enough to come through it as strong as I should have.


Nice small end of season race. Would have liked to have a bit more support on the course, But I knew what it was before I signed up. Also a nice way to spend a holiday weekend.