I like to write a personal blissed-out marathon post a few hours after the event, but it took a bit of work to attain full blissitude today. Last year it was a smooth and happy 3:43. The 2011 twin cities race was just a hair faster, but considerably more ... jagged. There was a little pain, including hoof blisteration, acute foreleg crampage, and the Andy Bernard-level nippular excoriation shown at right, which just made a mess of my favorite Minnversity singlet.
But it was a perfect fall day in Minnesota to cruise through the cities and see wonderful friends and family -- I was surely feeling the love from Dad, Letta, Sarah (and boys), Gabrielle, Liz and Matt, Nicole, Emily, and other good friends along the way. And, this was the first time I'd ever shared a race with a (co-)advisee (and proud finisher), Suzy Maves McElrath.
Closed-circuit to running geeks: Yeah, I pushed too hard again at the start (23:36 at 5k (I was gonna dominate that 5k), 47:50 at 10k (I was gonna dominate that 10k), and 1:41:52 at 13.1 (I was gonna dominate that half). Then I was completely dominated by the 6 miles of piddling but relentless grade on ol' Summit Hill -- while accosted, I firmly believe, by an invisible marauder who somehow severed my hamstrings on the steeper bits. I suspect he used a laser.
So I'll either have to slow down at the start or do some actual training if I'd like to keep up the pace. A helpful young runner from Nebraska suggested that her hometown marathon might be a li'l flatter (yes, flatter than Minnesota) and, hence, more amenable to my fixin'-to-pop hammies. She also promised a good bit less writhing in the final three miles.
So I'll either have to slow down at the start or do some actual training if I'd like to keep up the pace. A helpful young runner from Nebraska suggested that her hometown marathon might be a li'l flatter (yes, flatter than Minnesota) and, hence, more amenable to my fixin'-to-pop hammies. She also promised a good bit less writhing in the final three miles.
A few other marathon posts:
2005: Battling T-Paw
2006: Hot n' Heavy and Too Beautiful
2008: My Left Foot and Sweet
2010: Men of a Certain Age
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