I ran the Rehoboth Seashore marathon a few weeks ago. It was not great. It was not bad. It just was.
The entire plan for the race was to run with a friend, which is excessively difficult for me. I am a total self-proclaimed half-stepper. Every run, no matter how short or long, fast or slow, I constantly push the pace. If I were a marathon pacer, I would be fired immediately.
We stuck to the plan for the first, maybe 3 miles, hitting each around 8 minute pace. This particular marathon had a road portion for about 5 miles, then jumped on a packed gravel trail out to about 11, turned around and came back into town around 21, then headed out on another gravel trail, turned around and ended with the last 2 miles on the road again. Less than optimal for a PR, but still pancake flat. The middle miles were actually 'fun'. We cranked past a lot of other women and put ourselves in top-5 territory. With the only goal being to run a BQ for 2018, we were in great shape- until the great crash and burn of 2016. Around mile 23 I felt the wheels start to fall off. I encouraged my friend to go ahead (really I yelled at her, but whatever) and slogged through the last 3 miles at a close to walk. It was pretty freaking miserable.
The after party of the race was amazing. Tons of food, beer, and people just generally having a good time. I checked my time, grabbed my award, and wandered about for a bit before finally meeting up with some friends. All in all pretty awesome.
Despite having a good time (figuratively...) there are certainly a few changes I would have made to my training. Number one, actually do some long runs. The longest run I got in for that particular race was an 18 miler. Once. Not a good plan. Second, do fast stuff other than just racing. Coming off a really awful summer injury and then deciding to crank out a marathon was not particularly a great idea. Lastly, core and strength work are key. I do know this and neglected to do much of either. I would love to make excuses and say that my new job and longer commute were to blame, but really, it was pure laziness on my part. Get your act together.
In all, lovely seashore race, just actually do things like training.
Bye for now....
