Ethan Cannon

6:50 pace, east river road on a drizzly morning after a rainstorm. It was cool outside but the air was just saturated with water; it was really wet!

Trying to go nice and slow. Just under 7 minute pace on the way back, including three strides. Legs feeling pretty tired and my hip is tight. Hopefully those can feel better soon. Ran on east river flats on another nice, drizzly day. 

Easy 7:07 pace, west river. 

This is just a distance estimate as map my run is currently down. I went nice and slow as far as De La Salle HS. Strides on the way back. 

I'm grateful that my hotel is right on scene for the marathon. It was also located in a great place such that I got to do this short run partly on the towpath trail. I have great news, which is that for being a "soft surface" it is in fact very firm. I don't feel like I'll be running through sand when I get there at all. It was also beautiful! I'm glad I got to enjoy it more today than I will tomorrow when I'll be in a bit of a rush.

What a day. The marathon is mean and nasty and will knock you to your knees. I *never* have issues with going too fast early, but today I had a huge positive split- 71:23 through 1/2, so 76 mid the second half. I had talked with some of the elites beforehand and planned to go with them at 5:35ish pace. We did that but by about 4 miles I was pulling them behind me. Pretty soon they got further away. I would have been fine to have their company- they were dropping themselves, I thought. I took GU at miles 7 and 13, exactly as planned. At that pace and at that time, it was easy. I do feel bad because I also took water and later in the race, some Gatorade. As I’ve never run a marathon, I don’t remember the last time I took a cup. Each time I’d totally splash the volunteer. Sorry. I was excited to get on the towpath trail at mile 13. It was really nice and pretty. I was content that my splits were staying under 5:30 even on the soft, windy surface. Previously I had been having one of those times where you’re shocked at your pace each split as my times were quite fast. One thing that bothered me is that even though I was going fast, I would hear people cheer for me and then not long after cheer for someone else. So the uphill on sand run parkway was worse than I expected. There were some steep hills and a lot of minor ones. I was slogging along but I assumed it was just the hill. Then I got to the top and I started feeling tired. When I saw I had run 2 miles in 12 minutes I audibly reacted. First I got passed by a relay runner, then came one of the marathon guys. I started having a really hard time. I had flashes of cramps in my inner thighs, but mostly it was the calves. They were scorching me. It wasn’t a bad mentality, there was nothing I could do but hang on. I was a sinking ship heading to shore. The last 4-5 miles were the worst. My eyes opened and shut. I kept being surprised I didn’t get passed by more people and began to hope I might still win prize money. But I was going so slow. I crossed the finish line and immediately was taken in a wheelchair to the medical tent. I was semi-conscious. Just pretty dead. They said my blood pressure was 110/30. I’ve never heard of diastolic being that low.  I took two gatorades bottles in the next half hour despite them upsetting my stomach. When I tried to move my legs I got major Charlie horses in my thighs at first. Prior to awards I put down a bagel, sports drink, yogurt, some chocolate milk, and a little smoothie bowl too. I had been starting to crave food towards the end of the race and this stuff tasted good despite by stomach ache. The last few miles I told myself I’d never do a marathon again. One guy I befriended tried to convince me otherwise. There are definitely things I’m not willing to do to succeed at this distance but if I could keep some glucose in my body I think I’d actually have a good ceiling. Regardless I’ve been quite humbled. 

Splits. Some represent more than one mile: 

11:08, 5:36, 5:35, 16:36, 5:08, 5:14, 5:25, 5:21, 5:25, 5:13, 5:24, 5:22, 5:27, 5:39, 5:34, 12:02, 5:48, 5:56, 6:07, 19:54.