Notes
Marathon number 11. 2:54:35. My third fastest marathon and my fastest since 2013. I think we have finally figured out the training plan that works for me.
The race started well. I went through the half in 1:22:12 so only about a second a mile too fast. I lost a little of that over the next two miles with some big climbs and had another good mile after that but then I started to slow. It was then that both of my quads went and I think it was because of the downhills. We lost 160 feet over the first 5 miles but I think it ended up being more downhill because of the uphills. I thought 6-10 would be tough but it ended up being 6-16 that were really tough. I knew there were rolling hills but I was expecting those similar to Grandma's marathon and these seemed to be longer and steeper. I started to really feel it at that point and I tried to keep pushing it even though I had slowed. It wasn't until mile 19 when I really started to cramp and again at mile 20. I kept pushing though because I wanted to run a good time. I realized as I got near downtown that I still had a chance to go under 2:55 when I was kind of worried I wasn't going to get under 3. I found another gear and ran two solid miles to finish but it wasn't enough.
Overall, I am happy that I have made a lot of improvement this training cycle and it was my fastest marathon since Chicago 2013. I'm a little disappointed though that I didn't PR (I will be until I do again and get under 2:45) and disappointed that I didn't get my NYC qualifier of 2:53 but that is normal for me. I always expect a lot from myself and I am very hard on myself and I will be until I reach my goals. I feel like I can go under 2:42 at some point but I'll need time. This is just another step forward.