I haven’t been keeping up with any blogging of late as it has been remarkably busy–needing sleep seems to be a problem! Anyway, I ran a marathon this year because…well, I don’t know why. The last time I ran a marathon, I was so beat by mile 20, I vowed I would never run that distance again. But, the prospect of a local race was one I just couldn’t pass up…I guess!
I trained for this one, too. I mean, I followed a training plan to run a sub-4 hour marathon. It only included one 20-mile distance run and then there was a whopping 2-week-long tapering period. I’d never tapered for that long before…and for the previous 2 marathons, I ran multiple 20+ mile runs (though none of the runs exceeded 22 miles). I felt a little like I should have been running more during those last couple of weeks leading up to the event, but I decided to Trust in the Plan.
The Plan did include a lot of interval training, something I have since come to really enjoy! Not only did it break up the monotony, I could feel that I was getting stronger and faster. My improvement led to a new PR of 1:46:08 in this year’s Santa Cruz Half; I beat my previous PR by about 5 minutes, which is pretty significant.
So, for the marathon, I really paced myself from the start, knowing that there were plenty of little hills I needed to make it over! The first 13 miles felt great and comfortable–and this was just about where I hit the Wharf and the uphill leading to West Cliff. By the time I got to Swift St., I was beginning to flag. Mile 18 was out on the bluff in Wilder Ranch (this course had us loop around the horse barn) and an older fella passed by me with a "we’re on our way home"! I was relieved and yet dismayed. It was hard to believe that I was still so far away from finishing! I think the last 6 miles I walk/jogged.
I was walking along W. Cliff when I spied Tom and the kids. I immediately perked up! I definitely was almost done and there they were cheering me on and jumping up and down all excited for me! I managed to hobble along to the finish line. With a finish time of 3:55:23, I made my time target, but I was still disappointed that I had to stop and walk so much! But, overall, I am content. New Marathon PR set (beat the last one by about 6 minutes, I think).
Anyway, final stats for both SC Half and Surfer’s Path are as follows:
SC Half:
Div Place: 275/2219 (12.3%)
Gender Place : 70/1284 (5.4%)
Age Place (F 40-49): 13/297 (4.3%)
Elapsed Time: 01:46:08
Pace: 8:06/mi
Surfer’s Path:
Div Place: 83/519 (15.9%)
Gender Place: 23/253 (9%)
Age Place (F 40-49): 5/68 (7.3%)
Elapsed Time: 3:55:23
Pace: 8:59