As expected...it was a soggy Presque Isle marathon -- not so much because of the rain, but rather because of the heat and humidity that had us all sweating by the first mile. It was a tough run and I don't imagine the second loop got any easier since the sun came out to make it seem even more like an oven.
I did the 1/2 and started out with a goal of beating my 1:46, but...as any veteran runners knows...you sometimes have to alter your goals based on day-of-race conditions and...I quickly downgraded my goal to less than 1:50, then..."finish without walking," ...then..."just finish the damn thing." I did finish in 1:49:07 -- not my best...but the best that I could do under the conditions that morning.
There was a story in the paper about the marathon today. You can read it here.
And, you can find complete marathon, half-marathon and 5K results here.
P.S. One thing I did for this race -- to try and combat the post-race pain and limit swelling -- was to take Ibuprofen before the race, right after and for the rest of the day/night. I feel pretty good today -- aside from fatigued quads (which is to be expected) and some minor upper back soreness (which is from my nasty habit of tensing up when I'm struggling in a race).
Comments (2)
Heather,
I also ran the half and unwillingly tossed goal after goal aside. Mile 10 "OK, just beat last year's time" then Mile 11 "finish with a smile" finally I joined you at Mile 12 with "just finish the damn thing and go home." It took some separation to think rationally about it, but that is the nature of the sport, it can beat you on any given day. See you at the next one....
Posted by JD | September 16, 2008 10:30 AM
Posted on September 16, 2008 10:30
Thank you!
I am a newer runner and I had some what I thought were attainable goals for Sunday's race. I began running only 10 months ago. I recall going 3 miles and being so excited that I had finished 3 miles in ONE hour.
Sunday was our third half marathon. Cook's Forest in March and then the half here in Erie in July. I wanted to knock about 19 minutes off my previous time. I had come very close during our "long" training runs. It was my goal.
It was bad. I wanted to stop about mile 7 and at mile 11 nearly broken down into tears. If not for some comment silly comment from my runner partner I would have sat down and cried. I was mad that the goal was gone. I was mad that the race plan was gone. I was mad she would not leave me to wallow. I was tired. And that made me mad.
We finished and for 2 days I have contemplated saying "Enough, I am done running". I am tired and sore. But to hear two other runners hit a major wall about the same mile marker I did helps.
A couple of days off and then I am going to make up with Running. Thanks for helping patch up my 10 month relationship with running.
Posted by Anonymous | September 16, 2008 12:33 PM
Posted on September 16, 2008 12:33