Saturday, November 28, 2009

Just a quick one

to say that the marathon was mentally and physically arduous, a singular example of poor pacing on my part, but ultimately satisfying.

I had significant mental self-laceration from miles 8-16 or so, but talked myself out of it and in fact ran myself back into a genuinely good mood in miles 23-26 (as I passed - I was holding onto about 10:00 miles - a good number of those who paced even more unwisely than I did!).

Final time: 4:27, more than ten minutes slower than my time from last year in Philadelphia.

I am frustrated with myself because it was a very similar race to last year's in terms of pacing errors - however, I believe I have now learned my lesson! Aspirational pacing is not wise at the marathon distance - I need to have more miles under my belt before it is realistic to aim for a 4-hour marathon. Patience, patience, patience...

Detailed post-mortem to follow on Monday night once I get home and acquit myself of that day's teaching responsibilities!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, you still finished strong, so that's something!

Did you do your long runs at a pace that would have been a 4 hr marathon?

Unknown said...

I'm sorry it didn't go as you'd hoped, but glad that the summary sentence ends in satisfying!

Finishing on an up note is good.

Rainmaker said...

Very nicely done!

Keep in mind that comparing Philly to NYC is a whole different animal. Philly is very flat and fast, whereas NYC isn't really a terribly fast course per se, nor very fast.

Becca said...

Aargh, frustrating, but good for you for pulling it back together and finishing strong. You're still an inspiration, regardless of time.

Lauren Klein said...

A lesson learned is just as good as any particular finish time, I think. Well done!

ShirleyPerly said...

These types of lessons learned are tough but often more valuable than a running PR.

Congrats on another marathon completed!