Sunday, December 10, 2006

Marathon Results

Ouch, I am sore. Well, my results were mixed. First and foremost, I finished which is always an accomplishment but I fell well short of my goals. Before the marathon started, I had decided not to shoot for a Boston qualifying time so I decided to try for a 3:30 time. I ran with the 3:30 pace group all the way to the 13 mile point but started experiencing knee pain that and developing a blister on my foot that reduced my smooth stride to more of a hobble.

I slowly started losing time and finishing became my only goal. I finished with a final time of 3:56:28. Finishing under 4 hours was nice considering the pain I was in but also very disappointing. I trained harder for this marathon than any other and this was only my 4th best time out of 6 marathons.

I am anticipating announcing my retirement from running marathons and possibly just cut back to half-marathons. The joy wasn't there when I ran this one. I just have to find something new to challenge myself.

1 comment:

Tim Dowdle - www.livetoshoot.com said...

Since my first memory, my brother was always challenging himself. Running the hill we lived on faster, jumping his bike farther, running further every morning before school. I was trying to do the same, but with modifications. When we ran, we would set different turn around points that would put us back home at the same time. We would usually end with a 50 yard sprint back to the driveway with him encouraging me all the way. In school, it was always higher grades or more A's in row. He never comprised his principles and he finally got a varsity letter despite small town politics. He'll find new goals, and I'll continue to watch and learn. If you don't know him, you should take the time to meet him.