I have a tune-up for my second marathon tomorrow, a half-marathon just a couple of miles from home. I’ve run this one every year of its existence (4), and much of it is on my regular weekend distance-training run. It’ll be fun, I’m finally getting to where a half isn’t just a matter of finishing, and I can at least pay some attention to time.
In three weeks I’ll be running the Maine Marathon, an out-and-back from downtown Portland along the coast. Most of my immediate family will be up there. It’s a beautiful area, and I hear there’s a great post-race festival, so between the extreme runner’s high and the local culture and scenery, it should be a blast.
Good luck Chas!
BTW a podiatry classmate of mine is a well known sports podiatrist in the DC/MD area, just in case you need that sort of thing. He has tons of information here: http://www.drpribut.com/sports/sportframe.html
Half is done, I feel fine after an hour sacked out on the recliner. I came in at just about a 9:00 pace, which was my goal. The real challenge is three weeks from today.
Well, I’m back from Portland, very sore, but feeling great systemically, and no at-rest soreness.
The weather forecast a couple of days before the race was for rain, but the day was great. About 60F and overcast at race time (a tad warm for a marathon, but really not bad). I felt great. I went out a little fast, but still felt great at the halfway point. Then I started to get sore, first the thighs, then the feet. I was still well ahead of last year’s pace at 19, but then my calves started to get tight, and the feet really were bothering me. I finally started walking at the 22-mile mark, and walked in. I wasn’t willing to risk injuring myself, so I came in at 5:25, half an hour longer than last year.
I think what did me in was a combination of going out too fast and not being used to the hills. We have lots of short, steep hills around here, but not the long hills that there are on the coast of Maine. My brother thought that the particular kind of soreness I had was a result of opening up too much on the downhills. After wincing walking down the jetway to the plane this morning, I gotta say, I think he’s right.
I’m not 100% sure I’ll be running another marathon next year (or ever), but I think it’s likely. I like the distance running thing a lot, and I like the idea of pushing myself periodically.
Edit: I just checked the results, and I came in at 5:10, only 15 minutes slower than last year. Evidently it took me 15 minutes after finishing to turn off my stopwatch. That’s how slow I was.
Used to race 10 ks. Man was that a blast. When I was fit I could go
out and run an hour and 20 minutes, no problem. In Boulder I ran
along trails in the mountains. Happy times.