I reviewed my splits last night and it was definitely the dreaded wall. Cruising along at 7:40s until 21 and then hit a 8:15 at 22 and 9 - 9:20s after that with an 8:40 last mile (I dug deep - heh). So basically I lost my seven minutes in 1.5 minutes at a mile from 22 - 26. Here is the posit - what adjustments would you recommend? I do plan to keep my 50 mpw regimine (after this receovery week) as a consistent weekly mileage. But other than that I am fully open to suggestions. Thanks.

Thanks Jimmy. I'll look forward to reading your experiences at Sugarloaf.

A very polite and measured reply, considering Jimmy just essentially called you a soft wuss for slowing down. (kidding, of course). I think there are actually two kinds of walls. Having hit both, I think the one you describe is distinct from the one Jimmy describes. The former you bounce back from quickly. When I've hit walls like Jimmy described I hit them hard and it takes me a long time to recover. I think the "light wall" might actually be more of a brain-driven phenomenon (your brain slowing you to keep things generally intact). If you could push it over the last mile then your brain might have recognized the end of the race was near and allowed you to tap your reserved resources for the final push. Jimmy's wall - the one you can't push through - seems more physical (though no less real) and the product of deep carb depletion. Part of the difficulty I have kicking it in the marathon "red zone" (22-25 miles) is my concern that if I push the pace at that point the wheels will come off suddenly and dramatically - either through cramping, injury, or a hard encounter with the wall. Maybe I am settling for giving back several minutes over those last miles by not pushing harder, but I have trouble finding the confidence to risk losing the whole race at that point for the sake of a few minutes. And that's probably why Jimmy's about to call me a soft, wuss. P.S. Jimmy, what year was your first VCM? My first and only VCM in 1999 was also my second marathon.

I was just kiddin' ya! VCM is a lot of fun. Burlington's a great town. My mispent college years were just a couple of hours from there, and it was a fun place to go see the UVM girls. I think it was Steve Jones who said - "If you feel bad at 10 miles, you're in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you're normal. If you don't feel bad at 20 miles you're abnormal." Maybe the push through the "tired wall" is just a struggle against normality?

Just wanted to congratulate carmel and gmoney...Gmoney - I have no clue how you raced without a watch and HRM, amazing. I feel i'm too dependent on both lately.