...I want to actually be fully trained going into a marathon. So last year I ran the Maine Marathon after not having run for close to month before hand for a whole host of reasons. This year's half-assed marathon was the Mount Desert Island Marathon--notorious for being one of the top 10 or so most difficult courses in the country. My training started okay this year, but my son was born in mid-April which really cut into my training time (not that I am complaining--he is an absolute blessing). Then I severely sprained my ankle two days before my 20-mile training run and thus could not run for most of the month leading up to the race. I had gotten one 17-miler in, but that was it. Needless to say, I was going in severely under-trained. I started to get a bit nervous on Friday that I might end up with a DNF. MY ankle was starting to bother me and the fact that I had not run longer than 17 miles since my marathon last October was giving me doubts. My wife tried to encourage me, but I was convinced she was just being nice. Our hotel was about 1/2 mile from the start, which was nice. We headed over around 7:00 for the 8:00 am start. I warmed up a little bit, but temps were hovering around 38 degrees so there was only so much I could do. The race starts with a nice uphill climb. And then there is another one... And then one after that... Yeah, then a couple of more... I ran the first half intentionally very conservatively--gunning for around a 10:00/mile pace. I bonked in my last marathon at around mile 20 because I had run the first half WAY too fast, so I was trying to learn from experience. By the halfway point, I was feeling pretty good. It is a very pretty course, by the way, running through Acadia National Park and by some obscenely sized and obscenely priced summer homes for the uber-wealthy. I digress. With about 10 miles left, I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided to try and turn it up a notch. I ran miles 16-21 at a pretty good clip. Unfortunately, miles 21-25 are pretty much straight up. I slowed down considerably for those, but had enough left in the tank to finish strong. Mile 25-26 was my fastest split @ an 8:27 pace (although it was downhill). Finished in 4:19:06. Not great, but not bad considering the course and my training. Had fun though, and am not feeling too stiff today. For those who want to see it, the elevation profile is below. My Garmin has me at around 4,300 feet of total elevation change. It felt like it. There was a fairly decent hill about every mile or so like clockwork.