9th OA, 1st AG, but bumped up to 3rd Masters OA

Started off the run easy, but kept wondering if I should back it off a little more. I did not train how I should have for this marathon and I expected to run slower than my last marathon, which was a (PR of) 2:50:25.

After the first few miles, the pack thinned out and I found myself running with a guy called Patrick. We ended up running most of the marathon together. We talked about training, laughed about the lack of quality training leading up to this race, and then life in general.

It turns out this guy won the race in 2009. Great! He had great tips for me throughout the race. A few times, I thought I could run a little faster, but I knew this was not a PR effort, so I decided to hold back a little and just have fun. It made the marathon SO MUCH MORE enjoyable than just going all out.

During the early part of mile 12, I stopped to go potty, but b/c I was running with Patrick, was in and out in 15 seconds flat. It took me another 3 miles to make up those 15 seconds. During that time, at mile 12.6, I saw my family and it was a great boost. High fives all around and the energy of that encounter fed me until I caught back up to Patrick. I will admit that during this stretch, I thought of walking several times b/c of a STIFF, COLD wind, which made those miles miserable. My hips were also getting sore, but that's just prob from the lack of fitness.

In the last mile, a pack of 3 guys overtook Patrick and I, so I told him I was going to try and stay ahead of them. I ended up on the heels of one guy. The rest of the pack fell back. I chased, but I fell back 20 seconds off the high 5 minute pace this guy was cranking out.

All in all, super pleased with this race. My longest run and highest weekly average were 16 and 52, respectively, so I did not expect to come close to marathon PR. In fact, my only goal was an attempt at a sub 3, so pleasantly surprised to come close to a PR.

Train more!

Massage, chicken broth, and macadamia nut cookies! I was going to walk the 1.5 miles back to my room, but decided that I'd just wuss out and ride the shuttle.


Training. My hips were also a factor in this race, but I'll attribute that to the lack of training.


Good race, but you better train with wind. It was brutal during the east-wardly run sections. If you plan to ride a shuttle back to your hotel, be prepared to wait in traffic, especially if you have to cross race routes. It took the bus I was riding 40 minutes to go 1.5 miles back to my hotel.