This is my third marathon since open heart surgery.  It the real test to see where I am at now, since the other two were in June and I may breathing was to shallow to run hills back then.  I set my goal at 4:45 and to start our running at a 10:00+ pace.  If it does not work, I will need to figure it out while running.  I may be going a little to fast for this is a very tough marathon.

Here is an idea how the course is.  The first mile is down hill with one challenging hill after another for the next 8 miles.  Then rolling hills for a mile or so.  Next is on dirt which very flat for two miles.  Next is the famous local hill known as Easley Hill.  At the top of this hill is Mile 13.  You are back to challenging hills until Mile 24.  It is pretty fast with a few inclines and a small hill in Mile 26.  The last half a mile is mostly an easy decline to the finish.  Along with everything else it is almost always very hot and humid. 

The first 9 miles you are going South.  Going in we were to have a 30 mph wind coming from the South, but it was not very windy the first two hours.  Once we got the wind it was more like a 20 mph wind, which to our side with a few miles to our back.  The wind on the whole was not really a factor.  It was about 80 degrees when I finish without much humidity.  This was about the best one could except on Labor Day here.  This is my 6th Heart of America Marathon.

My first mile was a 10:32, then for the next 7 miles I ran close to 10:15 each mile.  Mile 9 was one of my slowest miles at 12:25.  It had a killer hill.  I ran below 10:00 the next 3 miles.  Then Easley Hill was next.  I would do my best to have a really slow mile.  I felt pretty good and ran a lot of this hill that seemed to be straight up.  I was very surprised to see I ran it in 11:24.

Now at the half it was 2:14:00.  For the next 7 miles I was back at running 10:15 miles.  I felt great and past many runners, who were either slowing down running or just plain walking.  I started to then pain in my Quads at Mile 15, then in my calves at Mile 17, but I did not slow down.  I was having a great time.  I usually slow down some here and get into my Zone somewhere after Mile 20.  This is where I probably made my mistake. 

Anyway in Mile 21 my legs were screaming with pain.  I would run and walk some of the hills until I get into my Zone.  I did not get into it until shortly after Mile 25.  I would probably of gotten into it sooner, if would of run more, but my Cardiac doctor told me not to push, so I did not run as much of the uphills as I normally would of.  In the final mile I past a half a dozen runners.  I finished very strong with a lot of others cheering me on.  My finishing time was 4:45.  I did not get the seconds.   I was pretty sore, but very happy with my time and strong finish.

I almost forgot.  Last year at age 61 I better my previous year's time by 53 minutes, which was the biggest margin of improvement.  I guess you do not necessarily slow down that much after age 60.  I ran a 5:12 in 2008 then a 4:19 in 2009.  I was given a very large plaque.  They took my picture and interviewed me for their clubs newsletter.  This one is put on by a running club for runners and the entry fee is about a third of all the ones put on by someone's favorite charity and not for runners.

Next is the Patriot Run in Olathe, KS, on September 11th and the Sioux Falls Marathon on September 12th.

TomD

Tom, you're amazing!  You ran a strong race, and sounds like you had a strong finish, passing people at the end.  Congrats!  So your doc told you not to push?  I guess he doesn't know you very well.  What would he say about your double next weekend?  Good luck!

This is my third marathon since open heart surgery.  

Congratulations! You did a great job at this race. It must feel good to know that your progress is going so well.

Thanks for sharing the story with us.

You rock!!!!

and...

keep on rocking!!!!

tom:

Welcome back,   it is so good to see you running so well.   Good luck this weekend

Dave