Well - my left leg felt shaky in the easy 2 mi. jog the night before and it showed in the later miles today. 35 deg., overcast, and a little drizzle here and there - almost perfect weather. I tried the no warmup miles approach this time - just some dynamic stretching and moving around, but no jogging or strides. I noticed that I was a little tight for the first 2 miles, but nothing worth writing off this strategy (especially when a little injured). I felt very comfortable at 6:35 pace for about 15 miles, and then the left leg really started tightening up. It started with the hammy and eventually worked its way down and became extremely painful in my calf as well - this progressively got worse from about 15 miles on. Splits really tell the story: 6:17, 6:29, 6:21, 6:33, 6:34, 6:34, 6:34, 6:35, 6:40, 6:35, 6:34, 6:35, 6:36, 6:32, 6:29, 6:37 6:51, 6:49, 6:50, 6:46, 6:50, 7:00, 7:09, 7:22, 7:15, 7:41, 7:54, 0.44 - 3:45 Yep - I somehow pick up alot of extra distance in marathons - my "tangent running" must be terrible :) I was quickly slowing in the last 2 miles. But, I'm happy that it afforded me the chance to witness something that inspired me, and remind me of one of the many reasons running is so fulfilling: As I slowly approached the finish line shuffling with every step with a grimace on my face, about 0.2 from the finish I hear this guy yelling crazily behind me, "Come on <random girls' name>! Come on <random girls' name>! I need a sprint out of you!! SPRINT <random girls' name>!!!" So this girl shuffles past me with the same pained stride (only considerably faster) and I here her labored grunts... so she finishes a couple hundred yards before me - very close to the 3 hr. mark. I see them later in line at the results tent and ask her if she got it - she gets her print off and turns around crying and hugs the guy that was yelling at her - she had broken 3 hrs :) I love running :)
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