I was not sure whether I would be able to handle the full distance of the Portland Marathon as the longest I've run in the last 6 months was a few 15 milers. But I imagine the intense 10 and 12ers I did over the summer turned out to be sufficient to keep me in shape. I had a really nice marathon - the race started on a beautiful fall Pacific northwest day - 50 degrees with a misty fog and no wind - and I felt like I was given a gift as I was able to watch the sun rise and take in the green city of Portland waking - the river, the trees, the bridges - all very picturesque.
I started sort of slow and gradually picked up the pace, easing my body into it, waking up and passing the slower crowd that I had started with. I much prefer a gradual increase in speed over several miles and one of the advantages of this race is you have plenty of time to do that. I'd never run a marathon with a Garmin before and now it's fun to look at the mile splits - I was pretty damn consistent from mile 5 when I hit my stride through 20 doing about a 7:05 throughout so I'm happy with that long stretch of consistency.
At mile 21 I hit the wall that always seems to descend at that point - but I handled it ok and managed to keep the arms moving, drinking some water and pushing forward. At 25 I suffered some real difficulty with cramping calves and hamstrings but I knew that was likely to happen so I just slowed the pace a bit more and kept at it knowing there was only a mile to go. And then I was done.
My time was 3:12 which I'm happy with - it makes me feel that my 3:10 in February at the Myrtle Beach marathon was not a fluke, and that with better distance training that I could hit a 305 fairly easily. 7:17 average pace for the 26. Top 300 out of 8000 runners. It was a great race and a fun time and I really enjoyed it.
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AWESOME time! I saw your half marathon time and I was had a 1:33 last January...I wonder if I could ever do a 3:15 or 3:20 marathon and what that would entail....you have inspired me. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
Wow! So great! I'm also glad you enjoyed it. It's one thing to have a good time, but if you aren't able to fully "enjoy" the experience, then what's the point. Yes, I understand the pain involved in running a marathon, but "enjoy" is still a very viable feeling!
ReplyDelete~carpeviam
Great job! Wish I could run that fast!
ReplyDeleteWow, Mike! To say I'm impressed would be an understatement! Congratulations, and thanks for the recap. Statistics make this more interesting, and give you hard information to better evaluate. Well done!!
ReplyDeleteOn the scoot subject, Yamaha makes good dependable machines. I'm not familiar with their 150, but know several who ride Vino 125 cc models. Good choice for (I'm assuming) a first scooter. Not too much, but enough to get you most places without raising too big a sweat.
~Chuck