Post Marathon Report

Two nights in a row with about 4 hours of sleep each and a marathon in between has left me little time to post my post-marathon update. But here I am. I've stolen a couple of pics from Jessica to show you. Hopefully I'll have a few more to come soon.

So my big news is that I trained for a 3:40 marathon and my official time was 3:40:01!! Pretty crazy. The day couldn't have been more perfect. It was cool, no rain, partly overcast but also partly sunny. The course was great. For being in middle Tennessee it wasn't nearly as hilly as it could have been and the organization was awesome!! The organizers of that marathon did an excellent job. I felt catered too all day which is saying a lot for a rock star!

About my run . . . I was actually able to maintain a 7:50/mile pace for quite a long time which was even surprising me. My goal was to run hard enough that I would be hurting at the end though so I went for it. I've trained with walk breaks every 9 minutes but decided to skip every other one early in hopes that I could have a faster time. In the end I did a total of 13 walk breaks instead of the 21 or so I would have done. I also had to make two toilet stops due to some of my ongoing digestive issues. So if my health was all good I could have shaved another four minutes off my time.

I was getting excited while I was running because I knew that an 8:00/mile average would give me a 3:30 marathon. I checked my watch at 19 miles and I was still averaging 7:53 or something like that. So I thought, all I need to do is run my normal 7 mile run in under an hour like I always do and I'll have a 3:30!! That had me pumped. But there is a real mental battle that happens in those last 4-6 miles for me and once again it kicked my butt. I don't get it. I was frustrated but I didn't want to miss my 3:40 so I at least pushed through to make that. I could have easily been totally beaten and missed that too.

So now I know I can run a 3:30. Weird. I think the trick is to lengthen my distance threshold. I've never run more than 26.2 miles. Maybe if I ran 30 miles at some point those last few miles of a marathon wouldn't be so difficult. Even a Boston marathon qualifying time of 3:10 is in my realm of possibilities now. Also weird. I never thought I'd even think that. I'm not yet sure if I want to give it a shot. Anyway, I'm going to try and keep my running pretty low key for the next couple of weeks. Then regroup and plan my training for between now and Disney.

As far as the pain goes . . . Yesterday I felt pretty good. Better than I wanted to actually. I've felt pretty good most of the day today too but going up and down stairs the last few hours has been a little tough. All in all I think my body could have handled a little more abuse which would have resulted in a faster time!!! It's all in the mind.

The whole gang.
Heather Jessica and my sister Tracy volunteered at one of the water stations and everyone else ran either the full or the half marathon.
L-R: Jeremy and Erin Thiessen, Jason and Heather Germain, Jessica and Dave Lewis, Glenn, Krista and Tracy Lavender

The band guys.
L-R: Jeremy Thiessen, Jason Germain, Me, Dave Lewis