Tacoma City Marathon in 3:33:32 (8:09/mile) (I should've run 1 second slower!)
I set a new slow for marathons. Not worried, though. I approached this race as just for fun. After a year of injured running, I was just glad to be able to run the full distance. The main reason for running was because my brother was in town from St. Louis for the marathon. Unfortunately, he beat me. My PR is 18 minutes faster than his, but not ready to race.
I kind of struggled with this concern in the weeks leading up to the race, but decided it wasn't worth the stress to try to beat him.
We ran together much of the race. It was a fun time just to be able to do that. My parents, wife and niece were at several places along the way to cheer for us.
During the race my main strategy was to run as slow on the uphills as felt comfortable - no pushing. Then on the flats and downhills I just coasted to catch back up with my brother.
The heat climbed throughout the day - hottest day of the year so far by about 10 degrees. The last few miles were pretty tough, but as tired and hot as my brother and I were, we still were passing other runners left and right, many of whom were walking.
All in all, I'm fine with the race. The course was not as easy and fast as advertised. It is a net downhill, but all of Tacoma is rolling hills, and there were a few pretty tough ones, too. The last mile was mostly uphill, but a 1/4 mile downhill into the finish. My legs didn't run out too badly, but when I tried to speed up those last couple miles my head got woozy, so I held back and slogged through.
Splits:
1 - 7:53
2 - 7:44
3 - 8:02
4 - 7:57
5 - 8:14
6 - 7:52
7 - 7:38
8 - 7:37
9 - 7:52
10 - 7:35
11 - 7:37
12 - 7:46
13 - 7:52
14 - 7:59
15 - 8:06
16 - 7:50
17 - 8:04
18 - 7:58
19 - 8:32
20 - 7:58
21 - 8:20
22 - 8:19
23 - 8:35
24 - 8:42
25 - 9:23
26 - 9:54
26.22 - 1:42.6 | 