Notes
plan was to run first mile easy (8:50-9:00) and then 3 miles at 7:50-8:00 pace. Then repeat the 4 miles 5 more times except run the slow miles at 8:15-8:20 pace. Then hang on for the last 2 miles.
first 16 miles I was fairly close to the plan except my slow miles were a little bit faster than I planned (avg pace for first 16 miles was 7:58...I was 30 seconds under the 8:00 pace...the 15th mile was slower but the 16th was supposed to be slow. But my 17th, I wasn't able to pick the speed up anymore. At the start of the 20th mile, I started walking for a bit and then played the game of walking a little and running a little. I just felt out of it and wasn't able to keep running... my mind was telling me not to walk, but my body kept wanting to walk...calves were hurting and I just didnt feel like I had enough strength.
Even though miles 17-20 werent were I wanted to be, my average mile time for the first 20 miles was 8:13. This would have put me in for a huge PR if I could have kept running the rest of the way. The problem is my last 6.5 miles were an average pace of 11:08
Very disappointed in my time but was still 3 minutes better than my best GR Marathon.
I feel like I need to strength train much more and do longer runs that get me used to 26 miles. I should also get faster so 7:50 isnt so taxing on my body.
I think I was at 2:03:20 ish for the first 25k so I was pushing pretty good but just couldnt hang on :(