SOOOOOO HAPPY....my comeback road marathon done and dusted - Grandmas Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Very very happy with how I ran and my overall time of 4.07 with a 3 minute negative split. In all the marathons I have done this is the one with the least volume of training and the least confidence in my body. It is a pleasant change to run a race where you are constantly holding back to stay on pace rather then burning through at an unsustainable pace and then limping home.
My 5km splits 29.31, 29.22, 29.33, 29.21,29.32,29.18,28.52, 27,42,(10.47+a bit) . My quickest 5km split was 35-40km - who would have thunk. A negative split for the marathon by 3min...woo hoooo. I had the usual pain in the left upper hamstring and the right Achilles plus the front of my lower right shin felt like a dull bone ache towards the end. But none of these signals got any worse as the run progressed. so I just kept on going They were just there. I finished feeling strong and full of beans. That bloody diet is amazing. At not point did I feel energy lags or down times. Just even - I took a gel at 10, 20 and 30 - I saved the Gu Roctane for 30 and kept saying to myself wait till 30 when you get rocket fuel and so it was I just felt amazingly strong. Goes to show that carbs as fuel are overrated - last nights dinner was chicken breast grilled with Parmesan cheese and three slices of kumera, cabbage salad with avocado and olive oil dressing. Breakfast on race day was 2 cups of coffee with milk, a small yoghurt and banana. I got up at 4am for breakfast and then transport to the start line at 5.45 - the race did not start till 7.45. Spent about 1.5 hours standing around in light drizzle with fog shrouding much of the surrounding view. It was cold but not as cold as Boston in 2007 where I shivered uncontrollably for hours until the race started.
The overcast foggy weather certainly helped. While it did obscure the view it also meant I could not see too far in the distance. I just observed runners around me and took in what I could see of the view. It struck me that a lot of runners in this race are religious, if their T-shirts are anything to go by. I think I could have read the whole of Scriptures just from back of peoples T-shirts. Nothing wrong with that, we all need something to believe in. The other observation is the respect for the military - who were providing First Aid - people called out to them as we passed - to thank them for their service to the country.
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