Felt good today and ran this distance faster than I ever have in training. It was hard to take the walk breaks at the beginning because I felt so good, and it was even harder to take them at the end because it hurt so much to start running again.

The last 3k were the longest and hardest of the entire race because I was really having a lot of pain in my piriformis (right side) and in both knees. And the balls of my feet really hurt, as well as my lower back. I think I haven't done enough running on pavement in my training.

My nutrition and hydration were perfect and I had no stomach issues except some minor stitches which I "blew" away. I took a vanilla Clif Shot every 30 min and followed it up with water. I drank e-Load the rest of the time, but didn't force it down and only drank when I wanted to. My stomach felt much better than when I make myself drink in training, and even at the end I was not bloated at all. I guess that how much you're "supposed" to drink is not necessarily the same as what really works for you.

I did 9-1 run/walk intervals, and the early walk breaks really helped me to keep my pace toward the end. There's no way I could have kept it up had I not stopped to walk at the beginning. I kept taking the walk breaks right up until the end, mostly for the mental benefit, because thinking about when to walk or run was a good mental distraction. It's definitely hard to stop and walk when you're hurting, because it hurts SO much more to start running again than it would have to just keep going. But I really felt a benefit from doing it, so I think it's going to be a good marathon strategy for me.

I didn't really have a time goal, but I was happy to come in under 2:30. At the finish, I was in a good mood and felt good (good but tired), except all the joint pain made it very hard to walk. I was really surprised at how much pain I was in toward the end of the race and after I finished. I guess it just goes to show that you have to condition your joints and soft tissue in addition to your muscles and cardiovascular system.




Not too much. I was pretty happy with my performance.

Walked to Serious Coffee downtown (it took me forever to hobble there) to wait for James to finish and meet me. Then we walked home, and I took a nice hot shower. I know, I should have had an ice bath. But believe me, I was cold enough. Took some Traumeel, rubbed my legs with The Stick, and ate a ginormous brunch.


Lots of pain!! And I missed some key training runs.