ING Georgia Marathon - RunMarathon

I was 25th woman out of 713. I am happy with that. Last year I was 38th and year before I think closer to 100. So moving on down the line!!! When you are getting older it is nice to see some numbers get lower.
If you want more details about my run I wrote up a long report on my blog: http://thenegativesplit.blogspot.com/

I don't know.
Maybe if I had drank the Gatorade available I might not have gotten a calf cramp and could have run a slight pr but then again maybe not because I might have had a tummy ache. Just because you fix one thing doesn't mean it might not have caused another problem. In a marathon you deal with what the day throws at you as best you can and I think I dealt with the issues perfectly.

I am really happy with this race. I pretty ran the exact race I wanted. I have tried running even splits to go under 3:30 and every time I hit 1:45 for the split I fade to 3:37/38 finish time. So for my last 2 marathons I've run hard the first half and come in around 1:40/41 and then try to hold on as long as can and give myself a break the last few miles. I know banking time rarely works but it has worked twice for me in the past 2 months to get me under 3:30.
I may have to think up a different strategy to get closer to 3:20 next fall.

My feet hurt so bad at the finish I wanted someone to carry me. Calf was good and everything else was fine. My husband always seems to pick the furtherest parking space at the top of the biggest hill he can find. So my "warm down" (isn't this suppose to be called a cool down?) was complaining and hobbling to the car while I turned blue from being so cold. Then, as always happens after a marathon as soon as I sit down, I got hit with like 10 different Charlie horses. So fun.

Then I put on some 3 inch wedges (helped my sore arches) and drank 26 pints of beer. Okay, only like 4 but I wanted to drink 26-- 4 seems to be limit and still being able to walk. Doesn't matter what it is,there is always something holding me back.


Well I think I performed fairly optimal all things considered--3 marathon in 4 months and I have been plagued by illness and injury between this one and the previous one.
2 months ago on a flat course I ran 3:28xx. So my 3:29xx on a hilly course I actually think is a bit of an improvement considering I stopped to use the bathroom and walked lots of aid stations--2 things I did not do at my last marathon. Right now, considering my capabilities and prs at shorter distances the best I could expect would be around 3:25 anyway and I think that is with perfect training, tapering and an easier course.


Congrats to everyone! I think the Ga Marathon is finally making itself into a really great race and I actually feel comfortable recommending this race to people.
I will however caution those going for a BQ on this course: Unless the BQ is a soft goal you might fight yourself dissappointed. This can be a really hard course to meet your goals on--especially if those goals are contingent on peak capabilities.

Bottom line: Run this marathon, aim low and you won't be disappointed.