The Long Run

3:16:21(gun, chip was 3:16:17), 6th overall, 4th male.

Ran the Clearwater marathon today, my 12th marathon after nearly 3 years of not running one. Wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but the weather was good and I was injury free. Started out a bit fast (in retrospect, but not so fast as it was out of my goal range) - first two miles were 7:12 and 7:05 (downhill on a bridge), next two miles were 7:30's (on a section that I usually slow down on when running the half). Next 12 miles were all under 7:30 (between 7:10 and 7:24).

I was following a guy through Sand Key park wearing an IronMan t-shirt who made me realize I was getting sloppy with the tangents. I ended up passing him finally about mile 8. When I passed him, I seemed to pick it up a bit. I hadn't been feeling strong before that but decided to just go a little faster and see what happened. Just before mile 10 was the Strider manned aid station who gave me the best cheer ever. After passing IronMan, I did not see a single runner until almost mile 14 when crossing the Park Blvd bridge back to the mainland. It was great to see the Cynthia support crew at mile 13 - Renee and Jorge.
Between the bridge and the Pinellas Trail (miles 14-17) I was running pretty strong and feeling good. Unfortunately, at about mile 17 I started getting my first leg cramps, left calf which started getting worse, almost halting me a few times, so I eased back a bit. Once I did that I was passed by three people. There was a man and a woman that I thought were running together (but later found they were not), and some guy without a shirt. Now and then I'd start to pick it up and the man and woman would seem closer but then disappear.

I had a few miles which were just under 8:00 and did my best not to slip despite the cramping.
Finally, with about a half mile to go I passed the guy who was running with the woman, but by this time he was alone. Coming up the base of the Clearwater bridge and then down the helix, I picked it up to make sure I didn't get passed again, with the final kick at a 6:17 pace.

It felt great to get back out there and go through the highs and lows of running a marathon. I'll blame some of the cramps maybe on running in shoes which were too light and maybe too many miles, but I'm sure most of it was training and just how the day worked out.

I saw several of my friends finish, Cynthia's first marathon, Rob, Stan who got PRs and Joe who cut off about 7 minutes from his last marathon (although I just missed seeing him). Bonus was a 3rd place overall plaque for male finishers (but I think I might need to give it back since looks like I was fourth place, or first masters).

Splits:

1. 7:12,
2. 7:05,
3. 7:30,
4. 7:30,
5. 7:22,
6. 7:24,
7. 7:18,
8. 7:21,
9. 7:17,
10. 7:18,
11. 7:23,
12. 7:23,
13. 7:10,
14. 7:14,
15. 7:12,
16. 7:21,
17. 7:35,
18. 7:33,
19. 7:38,
20. 7:44,
21. 7:55,
22. 7:36,
23. 7:54,
24. 7:42,
25. 7:41,
26. 7:30 and 0.27@6:17

(plus there were a few times (3) were I hit the lap button to resync with the mile markers).

The race director advertised the certified length as 26.34, so 26.36 was pretty good as far as tangents go.

Decided to not put off running another day. Calves much better than yesterday and just a little soreness in left quad hanging on. Chilly but pretty good feeling run.

Chilly breeze, legs feeling pretty good this morning, maybe close to 100%. Ran in neighborhoods.