I’ll do a full report later on, but the net of it is that, while I didn’t get anywhere close to any of my goal times (dream goal of 3:10, so-called “reasonable” goal of 3:12, “I can live with it” goal of 3:15), I still managed to PR by 13 minutes. The official results aren’t in yet, but my watch read 3:19:22 at the finish.
The Steamtown course is a complete and utter bastard. Now I understand why it’s called a “quad killer.” My quads were in trouble by mile 12 and basically shot by mile 18. I also overestimated my fitness; I simply wasn’t ready to run a 3:10 marathon (7:14 pace). I managed a 7:18 pace for the first 10 miles, but couldn’t hold it and ended up slowing over the next 16 miles, with a few wildly fast exceptions when I had some young whippersnappers on my heels.
It was a crazy race with a lot of ups and downs, literally and figuratively. It was very hard mentally and physically. I’m glad I ran it, proud of myself for not walking ever, but it was a real trial. Given the huge discrepancy between my goal time(s) and finish times, I have a lot to ponder and analyze when planning the training for the next one.
Anyway, more later. For now I’m eating my cheeses, drinking my wine and watching idiotic television. Later, there will be cake.
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Races Like a Girl 