Rhett's New Year's Day Marathon I've been planning on going 26.2 today for a few weeks. When I saw Andy had pulled it off on Christmas Day I was glad to see I wasn't the only crazy runner out there and to have the same idea as Andy made me happy. It was 40 degrees with a light breeze coming out the north so I decided to wear my CWX tights, a singlet, light gloves, and my Boston 2009 running cap. I headed north out of town along the lake shore for the first 8 miles which are pretty flat, averaged 7:44. Then I took a dirt trail/road which ran up towards the small mountains. It was an uphill grade and it took a little getting used to the rocks and slippery dirt. I hit the turn around point (13.1) at 1:46:30, averaging about 8:45 for those 5 miles uphill. On the way back I realized just how steep the trail was when my splits were pretty fast with less effort, averaged about 7:15 for those next 5 miles. I was very happy to be back on asphalt at the 18 mile mark and just ran what felt comfortable to the end. My splits for the last 8.2 were: 6:59, 7:01, 7:21, 6:53, 7:11, 7:48 (my legs started tying up a bit on that mile), 7:59 (just focusing on keeping things smooth, only 1.2 to go), 7:39, 7:12 (pace for last .2). Total run 3:22:53, 26.2 miles, AP 7:45, 10:07 negative split First Pace Overall :) I was happy to be done, but not feeling too beat up. After showering up, I took the family to Golden Corral for the all you can eat buffet. We then went and helped a lady I home teach move. My kids were so cute trying to help out. It was fun to do a family service project. Now I just plan on crashing on the couch and watching football. Happy New Year everyone. | 