Notes
It was a HOT one! Got up to 85 degrees (probably more with the pavement and building radiating heat) and sunny, barely any shade at all. It was torturous!
I had set out with high hopes of beating my 4:49 from DC last year, aiming high, for around 4:30 (considering all my training runs were in the 10:30 pace range) I though I had it.
Until it got hot. Until there were 36,000 people running with me. Until I absolutely HAD to take a bathroom break (5 minutes, you're welcome). Until I had to stop and stretch a few times to keep the tendon from going hard on me.
Until I realized about 7 or 8 miles in that this wasn't going to be the day or race to break my record and I might as well take it damn easy, enjoy myself and try to come out with my head on straight and no injuries.
So, I did just that, finishing just over 5 hours (kind of embarrassing to say 5 hours - wtf - but what am I gonna do).
It's now been 1 full week since the race and I feel 110%. I have no aches or pains. I am not limping, I am not sore. I went out and ran 3 and 1/2 today and felt absolutely amazing.
THAT was the victory for me in this marathon. I may not have beat my time, but clearly, I trained better for this race than I did my first one and improvement is all I'm really aiming for here.
Next year....?