Marathon

Today was the day. I woke up at 6:10 and had my typical morning race day breakfast; 2 banana's, a spoon full of peanut butter and a pop tart. By 6:30 I was out the door and headed off to Grafton. The legs felt great and the motivation was there. I started to blare my "faster" music and started to get psyched up. I arrived around 7:00 and found Chris Ponteri. It was my intention for this race to help pace Chris to a sub 3:00 marathon. After some talking and warming up we headed to the starting line (took a slight detour to the tree's for a pre-race pee).

Long story short the weather was prefect. The miles by the lakefront were windy, but the temps. were close to perfect for running - - Mid 50's. We were able to go through 13.1 in 1:29:30. A few seconds faster than what we wanted, but we were feeling great. The last mile or so I was a little worried for Chris. I felt good, but our times had us right at 3 hours. How disappointing if we were 3 hours and a few seconds. So I got shoulder to shoulder with Chris and started yelling at him. Trying to get his legs going and trying to get that one last push. Well, it must of worked because going through the finish he was 2:59:58; right where we wanted him to be. Yes, it was close, but we got him there. I came in at 2:59:59.

This was one of the better races for me. Not from a time perspective, but from an overall race feeling. With the Achilles pain and the recent trip to Germany, my only goal was to get Chris to a new PR and under 3 hours. We achieved that. And as much as I would like to take credit for getting Chris there, he could have done it without me. His fitness level was there as was his desire. I'm just glad I was apart of that special moment. For the non-runners reading this, going under 3 hours for a marathon is the pinnacle of the race. It's a major stepping stone.

And me! The legs feel great. I'm a few hours post race and I feel like I can go run again. Could I have gone faster, sure, maybe another 10 minutes or so, but to be honest it wasn't about me today. Today I found the love of the sport and will mark this race as one of my most memorable - - - - Congratulations to all the finishers, but more importantly, congratulations Chris for reaching your dreams.

Now it's a day or two off and time to get into the swing of my Boston training.

Miles this week - 26.2
Miles this month - 32.2
Miles this year - 1,812.4
Miles in the month of January - 241 (Average 7.77 miles per day)
Miles in the month of February - 205.5 (Average 7.34 miles per day)
Miles in the month of March - 267 (Average 8.61 miles per day)
Miles in the month of April - 271.7 (Average 9.06 miles per day)
Miles in the month of May - 190.3 (Average 6.14 miles per day - Marathon month)
Miles in the month of June - 211.7 (Average 7.06 miles per day)
Miles in the month of July - 248.5 (Average 8.02 miles per day)
Miles in the month of August - 86.5 (Average 2.79 miles per day - Achilles)
Miles in the month of September - 139 (Average 4.63 miles per day - 1/2 month with Achilles)