49-58F. Another bonkathon unfortunately. Although I was in good spirits after a couple good workouts, I knew this was a possibility based on the lack of any buildup or decent block of training. It's now been almost 2 years since I've had a solid buildup before a marathon - no surprise, that was also my last PR. Even so, this one still kind of stings. I wasn't really close to 2:55 shape after all.
3 sentence race report: In the first half I'd originally planned to let the 6:40 guy get ahead of me but I kept up with him instead, to my detriment, hitting the half in 1:27:30. Then stupidly led the 2:55 pack (6-7 guys) into the wind the next 4 miles and the wheels came off from there. Missing sub-3 at the end was the cherry on top.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's time to find a new challenge in running. I do think I owe myself one more shot at the marathon with a real training cycle. But I was pretty inspired by the ultra runners at Bandera last weekend. Cowtown 50k could be a good intro, and a way to dip my toe in the water a bit. One of the things I fell in love with about running was reaching new distances, taking chunks of time off my PRs, etc. Not saying those days are over with marathoning, but they are certainly few and far between. I don't know, maybe I'm not being patient enough?
Tentative short-term plan is to just put in miles. And more miles. Have fun in the 50k with no expectations. Fewer track workouts and more long runs for fun. Next running season will probably have a marathon and maybe a 50-miler, we'll see. Excited to shift gears a little.
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