Notes
Haven't got the official time yet. Ran great for 21 miles... actually, ran great the whole way, but I knew if I was going to run with 3:20, I wouldn't be able to hold that pace. I planned on only running with them for 20, but I was still feeling "ok", and I was leading the pace group for so long, I figured one more mile. Then I tapered off. But to be honest, to run as well as I did for the last 5.2 miles is pretty awesome. The flat part didn't hurt as much as last year. It still hurt, but when I hit mile 23, I knew I had it.
Major passed caught up to me at mile 24 but I was too happy with my pace to ruin my day by trying to keep up with him. We ran for a while in the beginning but got separated with water breaks. Same with Joe, in fact for a time all three of us were running together. Kathleen and Amy and I got separated at the flippin' start. I never saw Joe, Kathleen, or Amy again, but I knew that they were right behind me... and they were. Well, Joe got into a little trouble but he still finished with a good time. It was so awesome having my girls our there and getting the crowd worked up. And having Derek, Kurt, Dusty, Michael F., Patrick, Don, Brian, Christine Mellick, Meshell, and Lisa Tseu cheering us on out there!
Today was the FIRST marathon I ran the whole way!! No stops, no walking, no tying the shoe. I ran the whole way. I guess the shoes worked well today. Funny, New York I tied my left shoe too tight. CIM I tied it too loose, but it didn't give me problems. My knees didn't bail on me either, but since it was the only exposed part of my body, I'm sure the freezing cold helped. No foot issues, AT ALL! Hips were sore early on and then the legs, but not as painful as the last two marathons. Today, I really raced it, and proved that this big guy can race a marathon. In fact, I think going faster and spending LESS time on my feet may have helped. So New York was a training run after all! :D
What a great race. What a great year. Not a PR of PR's, but it definitely has to be greatest race to date. Such a big turnaround from last year. Next year, I know I'll BQ!!