As I am sure you all remember, I ran my first marathon (26.2 miles) last October and finished in 4:16:01. I was happy to finish but felt like death when I crossed the finish line. I decided I could do better than that, so I signed up for another one which I just ran Sunday (Cox Sports Marathon in Providence, RI). I finished this second one in 3:58:31. Good for 639 out of 1385 finishers. An 18 minute improvement basically over the winter.
Wife hired a coach for me to help guide me and put together a smart training plan. Training started last December, working on building up my long run endurance. Eventually I was running six and sometimes seven days a week, averaging around 45 miles a week and topping out at 70 miles. There were plenty of times that I was tired, sleepy, sore, cranky, hungry, and just not in the mood, but I never missed a run other than vacation and an injury I had to nurse for about 10 days. I really gave that training program my best effort.
I actually had a goal of 3:45 for this marathon but it just wasn't in the cards. The course was a lot hillier than I expected, which tired me out sooner than planned. I felt great for the first 10 miles, but my pace started to slip around the halfway point so I made 4:00 my new target. It would have taken a lot of effort to keep running at my goal pace (8:35/mile) and pushing too hard too early will destroy a marathoner. So, I just took what my legs gave me. Hill after hill after hill the last 10 miles. I hung tough though. I passed a ton of people the last few miles, either on the side of the road dealing with cramps, walking up the hills, or running very slowly. I knew the clock was getting close to 4 hours near the end, so I had to push hard the last 1.5 miles despite being very tired and in pain. When I got my first glimpse of the finish line, I saw 3:58 and change on the clock and knew I had it. I was thrilled to break 4:00 in my second marathon just over a year after I started running, especially on a tougher course.
Training and experience made a huge difference. Nothing hurt that wasn't supposed to. I didn't cramp, dehydrate, hit the wall, or walk a single step of this race, all things I did in my first marathon. I was sore as hell and exhausted, but otherwise felt good. I knocked 18 minutes off my time on a much harder course. It's hard to describe the pain you feel after finishing. My hips felt like they were going to disconnect from my body. My feet and toes stung. My ass muscles ached from the hills. And of course the legs were tired and rubbery. It's a great feeling of accomplishment though.
Really I did this as a way to keep busy during the winter while my wife worked tax season. I'm glad I can start biking again. There wasn't much room for it during training. I'm signed up again for the Hartford marathon this October. Being a flat course, I can't wait to kick the snot out of it.
coolstorybro tl;dr
Wife hired a coach for me to help guide me and put together a smart training plan. Training started last December, working on building up my long run endurance. Eventually I was running six and sometimes seven days a week, averaging around 45 miles a week and topping out at 70 miles. There were plenty of times that I was tired, sleepy, sore, cranky, hungry, and just not in the mood, but I never missed a run other than vacation and an injury I had to nurse for about 10 days. I really gave that training program my best effort.
I actually had a goal of 3:45 for this marathon but it just wasn't in the cards. The course was a lot hillier than I expected, which tired me out sooner than planned. I felt great for the first 10 miles, but my pace started to slip around the halfway point so I made 4:00 my new target. It would have taken a lot of effort to keep running at my goal pace (8:35/mile) and pushing too hard too early will destroy a marathoner. So, I just took what my legs gave me. Hill after hill after hill the last 10 miles. I hung tough though. I passed a ton of people the last few miles, either on the side of the road dealing with cramps, walking up the hills, or running very slowly. I knew the clock was getting close to 4 hours near the end, so I had to push hard the last 1.5 miles despite being very tired and in pain. When I got my first glimpse of the finish line, I saw 3:58 and change on the clock and knew I had it. I was thrilled to break 4:00 in my second marathon just over a year after I started running, especially on a tougher course.
Training and experience made a huge difference. Nothing hurt that wasn't supposed to. I didn't cramp, dehydrate, hit the wall, or walk a single step of this race, all things I did in my first marathon. I was sore as hell and exhausted, but otherwise felt good. I knocked 18 minutes off my time on a much harder course. It's hard to describe the pain you feel after finishing. My hips felt like they were going to disconnect from my body. My feet and toes stung. My ass muscles ached from the hills. And of course the legs were tired and rubbery. It's a great feeling of accomplishment though.
Really I did this as a way to keep busy during the winter while my wife worked tax season. I'm glad I can start biking again. There wasn't much room for it during training. I'm signed up again for the Hartford marathon this October. Being a flat course, I can't wait to kick the snot out of it.
coolstorybro tl;dr
