Richmond Marathon

My second attempt at 26.2 and it turned out pretty good!

I really wanted to shave some time off of my Flying Pig time.  My training had not been perfect, but had been much better for this one, and I did feel more prepared...  even though I hadn't run any in the two weeks prior to race day.  I'm not sure if this hurt or helped me. 

Jon and I started running with intervals of 8-1.  This felt great and we both were going strong at the halfway point.  Not wanting to crash early, I went ahead and lowered the intervals to 6-1 for the next few miles.  Somewhere around mile 17, Jon started having trouble with his achilles tendon, which is an injury he's all too familiar with.  I lowered the intervals to 5-1, which didn't really help him.  He pushed on thru mile 20, at which point we had already separated, and from there he walked the last leg of the race.  Smart move to prevent serious injury...  but naturally, he was disappointed.  He finished with a quite respectable time of 5:31:32.  (3 min. faster than I did my first marathon!) 

Now, as for me...  my goal was to break 5 hours.  I checked my watch with the last 6.2 to go, and I was around 3:47.  However, right around that 20 mile mark is "the wall" we all love.  Well, I hit it.  I had Jon on my mind, and was upset that he was dealing with an injury, and that I'd left him behind...  and I doubted myself on meeting my goal.  I took a deep breath and a GU shot and decided to give it my all....  and if I came in over 5 hrs, big deal.  I hit the 21 mile marker before I knew it.  But at this point, I was pretty much zoned out, and was just clicking off the miles.  At 25, I checked my watch...  I was around 4:43, so I thought I'd make my goal, but it would be close!  I chugged thru the last 1.2 and crossed the finish line at 4:56:54.  :o)

Overall, I liked this race, and I would like to do it again.  Although, next time I'll handle the hotel arrangements differently.  By only staying one night, we ended up with no place to shower afterwards.  We also had to stow our luggage (and valuables) in a closet at the hotel, since we had to check out prior to the race, and we had no breakfast.  Not the best start to the day...  but now that we've been thru it, next time will be better.