Today I ran in the 8th Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. It was a fun race, a good course, and with plenty of aid stations and crowd support. Weather wasn't bad, except for the 20 mph north wind.Although I enjoyed the experience, I was a little disappointed with my race. I had hoped to finish in 3:50 or better, but could only manage a 3:59. My legs felt tight and tired right from the very start of the race, especially my calves. I kept thinking the muscles would loosen up and things would get better, but they never did. For about the last eight miles I had cramping in my calves. I tried to ignore it the best I could, but it really hurt my time. Also, I had a little intestinal distress beginning at about mile 8 that caused me to stop in a couple of port-a-potties, losing about 5 minutes. Oh well ,this just wasn't my day. Still, a 3:59 isn't bad; I just expected better.
On the other hand, my friend and sometimes running partner, Brian Hoover, had the race of his life. He passed me about 4 miles into the race, and in the process passed a big milestone, going under 3:30 for the first time. His time, 3:27 beat his previous PR by 10 minutes. I'm not sure what he does to train when he's not running with me, but whatever it is, it's working.
3 comments:
Sub 4 is still worth celebrating. Congrats on your finish.
Considering all the drama you had just getting to the race, I think you did awesome!! When Roman and I saw you at miles 20 and 23, you looked like you were doing great and finishing under 4 is definitely something to be proud of!!
Thanks for your comments, Brad and Candice. Yeah, I know sub 4 is worth celebrating, and I was less than a minute off of my PR, so I didn't do awfully bad. It's just that I had been training harder than I ever have, and I thought I was prepared to do better.
It was good to see you at the race, Candice. Thanks for your support.
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