My friend Karrie tricked me into running 12 miles last weekend. This represented further than I had run all year cumulatively! Since I had just ran 12 in 1:45 without much issue she convinced me to join her with her 4:30 pace group for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
On the morning of the marathon I ALMOST wished I was running the full marathon. The weather was perfect. In fact at one point Karrie suggested I run the full marathon and I almost acquiesced. Holding me back was the belief that without enough mileage buildup I was likely to face a connective tissue injury that would door more than hobble me for a few days afterwards. This was the first race I remember ever going out slow and sticking to my pace plan (again thanks to Karrie) and at the 1/2 way point when the full and half marathon runners diverged I knew I could make up some time on the back half. Up until ~ 6.5 miles I was dead on the 2:15 pace and once I split from the pace group I made up almost ten minutes in the back half to finish in 2:05. This was also the first time I finished a race with lots of energy left over and feeling great - this convinced me physically that what I had always known intellectually about pacing was very important and something to focus on this year. This run really made me excited to run again and based on the results decided to run the Andy Payne marathon 4 weeks later.
On the morning of the marathon I ALMOST wished I was running the full marathon. The weather was perfect. In fact at one point Karrie suggested I run the full marathon and I almost acquiesced. Holding me back was the belief that without enough mileage buildup I was likely to face a connective tissue injury that would door more than hobble me for a few days afterwards. This was the first race I remember ever going out slow and sticking to my pace plan (again thanks to Karrie) and at the 1/2 way point when the full and half marathon runners diverged I knew I could make up some time on the back half. Up until ~ 6.5 miles I was dead on the 2:15 pace and once I split from the pace group I made up almost ten minutes in the back half to finish in 2:05. This was also the first time I finished a race with lots of energy left over and feeling great - this convinced me physically that what I had always known intellectually about pacing was very important and something to focus on this year. This run really made me excited to run again and based on the results decided to run the Andy Payne marathon 4 weeks later.
1 comment:
Great job on the OKC 1/2, see you soon on the trails or roads.
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