sub-3 or blow-up trying

From a marathon you can have damage tissue in the muscles for up to a month so a slow recovery and taking it easy is good.

What an accomplishment to run 20 miles on sore legs. Was it the downhill you think that caused the problem? Because I know based on your training that you didn't overtrain.

No doubt. I trained on hills, yet nothing significantly downhill for more than a mile at a time. The early portion didn't seem too steep in my mind, but I don't think I've ever faced a downhill distance that long. Having significantly stronger hills in CT, the legs getting stiff really caught me off guard. I was really frustrated through the hill portion (16-21) because they were way easier than I anticipated and my energy level was really good, but the legs were just toast.

Next time I prepare for Boston, I'll definitely look for a training place where I can run 3-5 downhill miles in one stretch. I'll also be very careful at Boston in the first couple of miles (probably did too much dodging in mile one, having started in coral #5).

Yes, the 20-mile accomplishment kept me from getting overly discouraged. I almost packed it in part way through (serious pain), but was able to stay focussed to the end. Sorry for the long vent, but I appreciate your interest and I'm still trying to process everything.

I'm glad you can vent to me that's okay were here for that. When I trained for Boston I did long runs on downhills and it really does help. When I trained for my first marathon it was downhill and I didn't do any downhill at all. My legs were dead at mile 20 and I had to start to walk and run at mile 22. My calves were vibrating and having spasms. I hit the wall and finished at 3:48. I was completely dead at the finish.

What also could have contributed to the legs being fatigue is standing for two hours in the cold weather. Your muscles could have really been stiff and not loosened up for the start of the race (I believe this is what you said about the two hour wait).

Come run my hometown marathon in September and that will give you downhill practice. You would have a free place to stay at my house. I know that's a long ways plus plane tickets, but if you can make it the offers there.

The course is really closes to Boston's course.

Here's the web site

www.pocatellomarathon.com

Hope the hip starts feeling better soon.

Kory, Pocatello first half hill is significantly steeper than Boston and the second half is a lot more flat (except small hill at 20M). Pocatello is a course that can really beat you up in the first half (unlike St. George, which beats you up in the second half). If you train for downhills, I would say Poky is easier except for the altitude difference.

Jeff - your right about the first being a significant downhill. The first 11 miles being downhill that is, except at mile 7 you go up for .5 of a mile. Then you have a couple small hills before the half point. But you don't see that on the elevation chart unless you run the course like me.

Then after mile 13 you have about a .5 mile downhill section. Then mile 14 to 15.5 is flat. Then you start the rolling hills that end at mile 21. The final 5 miles are flat.

This course will beat you up and me you injured if you don't train properly.

Kory, interesting insights. I definitely feel the 2 1/2 wait in the cold contributed, but my lack of downhill training was probably a bigger factor.

I looked up your marathon, but I have a church activity on that same weekend. Would've been an awesome experienc, so thanks for the invitation. Look forward to crossing paths at some point in life.

Jeff, thanks...I'm not overly concerned. This past weekend I still felt as if I'd done 10 sets of full squats with 225lbs. Pain's gone in quads, feet, and calves and now the hip doesn't hurt until part way into the run.

What marathon do you have around the area this time of year (June, July).

Well if anything changes the offer is there.

Pretty quite around us in June/July. It's too hot. Most of them start up around late Sept/early October- Hartford, Mohawk, Cape Cod/Falmouth, Steamtown, New York are a few. I committed to running Bay State (Lowell, Ma) with my long-run training partner in October. Was debating whether or not to do New York, but there's a lottery system and my time's 1 year away from qualifying (good enough if I was 40). Bay State will probably boost my confidence- it's flat and fast.

I'm doing a mission trip to Uganda in July (2 weeks) and then will be on vacation 2 weeks in August, and then will do our new year kick-off at church in the first weekend of September. Even if the weekend was free, I might need the extra month to be fully prepared for a marathon. Really hope I don't lose too much fitness during the short-term mission experience in late July.

Thanks for the gracious offer! Are planning on a marathon before the September one?

Last question...I've lost 30 lbs in the last year. It's plateaud, but has become easy to maintain (178ish). How directly do you correlate your improvement to weight loss? I think I saw you dropped from 171 to the 140's.