Wow. Just wow. That was HARD. My slowest marathon ever. I knew I was out of shape, but this was ridiculous. As is frequently the case, if I'd had any sense I would have bailed out, but I have no sense. Or I'm just too stubborn to quit. Started out trying to run 6:00/km, which worked for 10K. After that, a death march, with a whole lot of marching. I seriously thought I was going to go over 5 hours even for the 1912 distance, and I certainly would have been over 5 if I'd done the extra 2K loop to get to 26.2.
We got a break on the weather -- 65ish, but overcast and a hint of breeze. A lot of sun would have been even worse. I drank a lot, ate a lot, took my electrolytes, but the leg muscles just were not in shape for 26.2 at any pace no matter how well I fueled and hydrated. Which I knew going in; I wasn't under any illusions about my fitness. The goal was to slog through it. I hoped I would run slow enough that the legs could handle it. I don't think that was possible, though. Never went into fullblown cramps, but first hip flexors and then calves felt like they were going to explode. I had to suck it up just to run the last 2K without stopping
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