I placed 745 out of 2900 runners; 56 out of 330 in my division (F 25 - 28) and 201 out of 1350 for all women. WOW.
My chip time: 3:57:13. I loooooove it. I am so happy with my time - and overall place. My goal was a 4 hour marathon, a 9:09 pace. Well, I beat that and average a 9:00 min mile throughout.
My race splits: 5K: 27:34, 10K: 55:11; 13.1: 1:56. Phew... I felt so strong and confident 99% of the time. The damn 8th ave bridge, or whatever bridge that was at mile 23/24 was awful. I wanted to just stop. It wasn't the Wall. It was just torture (maybe, then.the Wall?). To be honest, my legs and arms were kicking the whole time, I didn't hit the Wall. When those last few hundred yards were called out, some sort of adrenaline shot zoomed through my whole entire body. The feeling was out of body. I heard someone yell, "nice kick!" And it was! I was like Speedy Gonzalez on crack. It was awesome. Thanks, Mr. Mills, for all those sprint intervals in high school track practice. It worked. Those kicks are my *secret* weapon these days!
The weather was gorgeous; 41 @ the start but in the 70s at the finish. The course was wonderful. Through city park, cheeseman and wash park. My parents and family friends were in to watch; Jerry even ran the last few miles with me and was a very accurate pace runner. Thanks Jer!
I am exhausted and my legs are SO incredibly tired. Walking was so difficult all day afterward. As I am sitting in bed now, my legs are just screaming out, "give me some love, some TLC and some ice." Well, I will take a few days off... then they are back to work. Maybe I'll give 'em the week off.
Can I tell you why I love to run? I ate the most flavorful, satisfying burger, fries and a drank a sharp-tasting pale ale this afternoon. Then I had Fro-Yo. Of course.
Next up: to qualify for Boston, I need a 3:40. Well, that is 17 minutes. If I do some speed work and continue my mileage, why not? My adrenaline is talking right now so I'll sit on that thought. Rock N Roll Phoenix? hmmm
let's see what the legs say tomorrow...
