Marathon #14 is done. It was fantastic – I finished in 4:39:21 which is my fourth best time of the 14 marathons that I’ve run. The course was fantastic, the weather was perfect, and I had a great pace car (Matt Shobe).
As I mentioned in my previous post, I didn’t feel particular ready for this one. My running has been solid and steady with a good base, but I was feeling tired from the cumulative effect of travel combined with four other marathons this year. I had a great vacation a week ago, but last week was brutal and I didn’t really spend any time thinking about the marathon until Friday. Oh – and I’m still heavier than I want to be (although lighter than when I declared a jihad on my weight.)
There were about 1100 runners in the race. Matt and I started in the very back of the pack so it was satisfying to pass a number of folks (I was the 847th finisher.) I felt very strong at the half way point (2:18:36) and was able to hold the pace in the second half (a 10:29 per mile pace overall.) I had a ton left at the end – I had an 8:46 pace for the 1.2 mile stretch from 25 on.
Once again Amy has been a phenomenal sherpa. We’re sticking around to see Huntsville (US Space & Rocket Center anyone?) and are planning to have dinner with Andy Smith, the founder/CEO of Gyminee (one of the TechStars 2008 companies that is based here.)
I feel superb right now – a little sore but basically like I just did a long run. I’m hopeful that I’m starting to figure out how to train for and run these things.