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The marathon is over. I ran it in 4hrs 24 min and 43 secs. A bit slower than I had hoped, but not too bad considering my very limited running experience. The race was hard (both physically and mentally) and frustrating at times. But it was also fun (at least parts of the first 20 miles). As you can see from the table below I started a little slow, picked up speed (though still not as fast as I would have liked) and then pretty much sucked it from miles 20 through 26. The last .2 I actually ran rather quickly (at least compared to the previous six) and passed a good number of people.

My troubles began when I first got to downtown. It was chilly and I was glad I brought my sweatshirt. I stood in line for about 40 minutes to use the bathroom. I’m glad I did I seriously needed to settle my self down if you know what I mean. From the number of men I saw peeing along side the course (as early as 2 miles in) I’m guessing they needed more bathrooms. Just a little tip: If you can hold it 10 miles or so the lines pretty much disappear. After the “settling down” I headed up to drop off my sweatshirt at the clothing drop. But I didn’t have a bag. Apparently you have to have a bag. Another lesson learned. Luckily among the 13,000 folks getting ready to run I bumped into Bill (one of the two people I know who ran) and he through my stuff in with his.

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The marathon is drawing nigh.  As it does I’m getting kind of anxious.  Running related activities (with the exception of actually running) make me more anxious.  Stretching is the worst as I’m sitting on the floor with nothing really to do, but get nervous.

The TV down here isn’t really helping any.  They have been running commercials about the race for a few days (mostly calling for volunteers) and I get just a wee bit queasy when I see them.  Plus the weather is looking a bit iffy.  You should have seen the weather folks on each of the local news stations last night.  They were giddy, positively giddy I tell you, at the prospect that it might rain on the runners.  Rain itself can be a big deal down here, but add to the fact that it is raining on 13,000 idiots running and you’ve got news.

Then the marathon website keeps adding more content.  Things like a course map and most recently course videos. The videos show the view out the window of a car driving the course.  The videos are very, very sped up.  They still take 14 minutes to watch.  I started watching these things and even at driving speed, faster than you could actually drive it because the video is sped up so much and because they have cut out all the waiting at lights, I still got bored and couldn’t watch the whole thing.  Now I have to run it in real time.  Go ahead and try to watch them.  Tell me if by the 2nd minute you aren’t bored out of your mind and thinking, man this is a really, really long way.

I went for a very short, slow run today.  Just testing out the leg.  It seemed to do okay, but even though I only ran a little over a mile I bet I’ll feel it tomorrow.  I plan to run maybe 2 or 3 tomorrow assuming my calf feels alright.  If I’m going to keep eating like I am now I’ll definitely need to keep running at least a couple of days a week.  I’ve already gained a couple of pounds in the last two weeks of rest.  Yikes!

As I write this there are 6 days 13 hours 13 minutes and 9 seconds until the marathon.  Less as you read this very post.  Wish me luck, I’m going to need it.

Well, my right calf is still sore.  It doesn’t seem to be getting any better.  It hurts at the top of the muscle, below the knee.  It is most noticeable when I’m running, but also when I squat down (as to pick up Jillian from the floor).  Stretching helps for a bit (maybe 10 minutes), but then it gets sore again.  I haven’t noticed any real improvement since my 20 mile run.

I haven’t run at all since the 5 miles I did last Sunday and in general I’ve been laying off doing much of anything too physical.  I’ll just keep stretching and keep doing nothing until the marathon if I have to.  I’ll definitely run the race regardless of how it feels.  I haven’t been doing this since October to have to quit.  It hurt for 18 miles last time, I guess hurting for another 8 won’t be too bad.  One bummer is that I bought a new pair of shoes to race in (and to have afterwards as mine are pretty much run out), but it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to put enough miles on them to break them in before the marathon.  So I’ll probably stick with my old worn out ones.  They may not have much cushion left, but they fit my feet and I know they don’t give me major blisters or rub in a bad spot.