Notes
Marathon Debut!
Sunny, high 40s, and very windy day. Overall this was a fun experienced. Was running with Garrett and Chris for maybe the first 3 miles before they broke away, never to be seen again. Came through the half in 85:30 and felt really good. Found a good group of guys who would take turns breaking the wind and such which was really fun. The downside to locking in with that pack is that I started dipping into some 6:20s much earlier than I wanted, but I figured it was late enough in the race to say f*ck the numbers and just go with it. Battled into the headwind for 6 miles up Kelly Drive with those guys. Saw the family at mile 14, housemates at 18, and then Faz and co. a little before 19. Started to feel it in my legs as I approached 20, and started to get a little worried because I knew the real battle hadn't even begun. In my head kept telling myself that the last 10k would be with a tailwind that could help me, but as soon as I turned around the wind was still whipping into my face. The next 6 miles became a serious battle. Mentally fought the demons all the way until mile 24, where I hit a 7:30 mile. Really wanted to walk, and had sucked down all my fuel at that point. Mile 25 was a piping hot 9:03. Flashbacks of post endurance test were lingering in my head. Very shortly after passing mile 25 the guy I had been running with up until the first 10k came past me and gave me a little "cmon kid". I tried to increase my shuffle speed through boathouse row, just searching for the finish. Crossed the line and was very much out of it, but ultimately really pleased. Given the conditions I think I did a lot of things right, but sadly still found myself getting a little carried away with the pace too early. Got a BQ out of it, which was the one of the things on the checklist, and officially got under 3 hours in the debut. Not the best day, not the worst day, and gained a lot of experience out of it.
Probably going to take the rest of 2017 off of training. Might sprinkle some runs in here and there, but wont race or have consistent mileage/workouts for a bit. Going to enjoy the holidays, and hopefully not fail the test I have coming up.