I haven't run any marathons, so I can't give any advice on that front. I have blown up in three races (2 HM and 1 5k), though, so I know how rough it can be and it's awesome that you were able to finish and still be optimistic.

I'll leave the advice to the more experienced runners here, but I just want to say that I loved reading your report and wish you the best of luck in future training and races.

No advice, just congratulations on your race. Very good report.

My last race + this report are making me think big time.

OOTB- Thanks!  I guess what I was thinking was that 26.2 is going to hurt at whatever pace I run it.  5-10 minutes slower would have still be challenging.    Honestly, I thought I was backing off enough going from 4:00 to 4:05, because that difference in pace felt HUGE during training.  I don't know if the lack of 20 milers hurt at all.  I have talked to plenty of people who have been successful with the program, but of course none of them used it for their first.

Jack- Thanks!  I was hoping I could be a super-newbie like you and DW, but hey, at least I got it done!  The throat thing is completely new, never experienced anything like it before.  I almost wonder if it wasn't just a moment of panic or something.  I definitely will run another, but I need to figure a few more things out about myself as a runner before #2.

Traci- Maybe.  But first I will prove it with shorter races.  I appreciate all of your support during training!

fouroutafive- I was kinda hoping that if I put in the mileage ahead of time, I wouldn't have that same debut marathon story, but I guess the marathon didn't get that memo ("pick on that guy instead, I trained for this!!!")  I did do my long runs as progression runs between easy and MP, as Hansons called for.  The last two felt fantastic, and the ones before that it had just been way too hot to really evalutate.

Scotty- You are too kind!  And patient enough to WALK a marathon when running was no longer an option- that's awesome!

LtH- I think I can agree with #1- Heat- I think heat was a bigger factor than I gave it credit for.  First of all, everybody I spoke to finished significantly slower than their goal times (not by as much as I did, but still!).  The start was 58 degrees, I think, and it was mid-70s by the time I finally finished.  I didn't think it was bad after training all summer, but certainly a factor.

#2- Mileage- I don't think mileage was a factor here.  Or more accurately, I don't think I could have handled higher mileage this training cycle.  In the last 10 weeks before the race, including 3 weeks of taper, I averaged 51 mpw, and peaked at 63.  I'm averaging 41 MPW in 2014.  More than most people bring to the table for a first marathon, though as you point out, more is generally better.

#3- Variety- I think Hansons also does a good job here.  The program had a Tuesday speed/strength session every week in addition to the Thursday MP run (and every other Sunday LR).

#4 Who the heck knows, but hopefully it won't be an issue again.

SF- No sticker, but I am wearing the pendant!

Jay- Thank you.  I love your RRs, by the way.  I like the way you share little details of what was going on in your head during your races.  I don't think about nearly as interesting things, but I try.  I will try to use that "just a slow HM" trick in the future.  Sometimes that was how I got through my 6-mile strength workouts, by thinking of them as a really slow 10K race.

Ric- Thanks!

onemile- Yeah, hard to say for now.  I guess now I know what a marathon feels like.  I still like the Hansons program I think.  They did great.  I just didn't run a great race.

Phil- Thanks.  It wasn't up to the 80s yet by the time I finished, but you have a point.  And that's a good point that I taxed a lot of systems in my body, but apparently not really my legs.  I also just wonder if I wasn't breathing well enough to get oxygen to the muscles.  Hard to say what starting at 4:20 pace would have brought me, but oh well.

LRB- I need to do more running to really be able to think this through!

wcrunner- Each will be hard in a different way, I suspect.  Hoping I at least make different mistakes next time!

Fuzzy- Thank you!  It helps to hear that more experienced runners have been through similar things, and that it's not just that my beginners' improvements have run their course already!

Ginny- Ooh, I didn't know you were thinking about a marathon!  I'm sure you will do great, you are so much better at pacing by feel than I am- I am a slave to my watch!  I haven't looked at the racing calendar recently (all in good time), but I'm sure I can find some medium-length races to run.  Once I see how my legs feel when I'm running again, then I can put a timeline together.

Oski- The funny thing is, I got two of the exact same photos from two different photographers.  After I got the first one, a second photographer came up to take the picture, and it seemed much easier just to smile at him and try to act normal than explain that I had just had my photo taken 10 second earlier.

Nova- Thanks!  Hopefully the only "blow up" we have in races will be from chasing people in inflatable Blerch suits!

PAD- That's a possibility, but I didn't feel it if it was sitting in my throat.  More likely was I started thinking about how thirsty I was.

Eric- Hopefully thinking is good.  You'd never need to be out on a course for as long as I was, so that's probably good news for you!

Jerry- Thank you!  Hopefully this means I won't have too much trouble PRign my next one, right?

On the lack of 20 milers, my main thought was that they were really good learning experience.  I bonked hard on the last 2 miles of my first 18 miler, and learned how very quickly the switch can get thrown from feeling like you are running ok, to really struggling.   I worked things out on my next 20 mile run better, and it was a good psychological boost.   So for me, the long runs were helpful for my mental training, particularly as a relatively new runner training for my first marathon.   People have had a lot of good results with Hansens, I wouldn't be afraid to try that for my next marathon.

Melanie -- thanks for taking the time to respond to everyone's comments.   I feel I learned a great deal between your report and lot of feed back you got.

So the speech pathologist at school went and looked up the vocal chord thing, and had some advice.  Just in case anybody else ever has this happen, I'll post her advice.  It's called "paradoxical vocal chord dysfunction."

It's all breathing advice, so I'd think you'd need to stop running to do it.  But, if you can stop running, get your breathing back under control, and then get back on pace, that seems like it would be a good deal.  In any case, you start with a sharp intake of breath through the nose.  Apparently the mechanics of that manually force open the vocal chords.  Then, you follow that up with 3 slow, deep breaths, and then continue belly breathing until it calms down.

Hopefully I never need to try it, but hey, at least I have the info now if needed.

OOTB- I still like Hanson's.  I don't know if the lack of 20-milers had that much of an effect on me mentally.  Maybe that's why I melted so early, though, who knows?

Mitch- Thank you.  You have fought through a lot to get to where you are, too!