recovery
ahhhh, the marathon. how come it feels like it happened over a month ago but it was really just three days ago? three days ago at this time i was winding my way through hollywood, feeling great. wow. now my only real reminder is my bib sitting on my desk, the medal, and my sore quadriceps.
the race - the race was overall very good. my time was 4:51. that's 43 minutes faster than last year! i am really proud of that. altho i have to admit that i am unsure i will ever have that dramatic of a time decrease ever again. oh well, at least i can enjoy it now!
things were great up till around mile 18. up till then i was doing my 8:1 splits just fine, and was doing them at a very good pace - probably on pace to get in between 4:15 - 4:20. it was a very warm day though, and once in downtown proper the heat started getting to me. up till that point i made sure to drink a few glasses of water and gatorade, dump a few waters on my head, and run through every fire hydrant shower that L.A. City firemen let loose (ahhh, that was wonderful).
mile 19-21 had me taking more walk breaks - for 30 seconds at a time. then i got to mile 21, thinking "5 miles left! 5 miles left!" and that's when i realized i was not sweating anymore. uh-oh. my muscles starting fatiguing really quickly - and I was went to perhaps a 3:1 interval. at mile 23, with three miles to go, it was 4:20. in order to meet my sub-5 goal i had to run three miles in 40 minutes. this sounded easy enough - but then it got even warmer, and my quads tightened up even more.
by this point, people were dropping like flies. it wasn't pretty. people who when you might see them on the street make you think "DAMN that guy is in perfect athletic shape". there they were - shaking, pale, trying to throw up. i felt so sad for them - really, only 2 miles left. i really hope they were able to get things together and make it to the end.
anyway, from mile 24 onward, it was stop and go. it was really hard, folks. really hard. i felt like i was tearing my muscle from the bones. i had so much lactic acid built up, my muscles were literally bulging, and i really needed some salt. electrolytes just were not doing it for me.
but, i did manage to rally for the last .4 miles or so, and i finished with a 4:51.
so, i'm happy.
yay! onto the next race!
the race - the race was overall very good. my time was 4:51. that's 43 minutes faster than last year! i am really proud of that. altho i have to admit that i am unsure i will ever have that dramatic of a time decrease ever again. oh well, at least i can enjoy it now!
things were great up till around mile 18. up till then i was doing my 8:1 splits just fine, and was doing them at a very good pace - probably on pace to get in between 4:15 - 4:20. it was a very warm day though, and once in downtown proper the heat started getting to me. up till that point i made sure to drink a few glasses of water and gatorade, dump a few waters on my head, and run through every fire hydrant shower that L.A. City firemen let loose (ahhh, that was wonderful).
mile 19-21 had me taking more walk breaks - for 30 seconds at a time. then i got to mile 21, thinking "5 miles left! 5 miles left!" and that's when i realized i was not sweating anymore. uh-oh. my muscles starting fatiguing really quickly - and I was went to perhaps a 3:1 interval. at mile 23, with three miles to go, it was 4:20. in order to meet my sub-5 goal i had to run three miles in 40 minutes. this sounded easy enough - but then it got even warmer, and my quads tightened up even more.
by this point, people were dropping like flies. it wasn't pretty. people who when you might see them on the street make you think "DAMN that guy is in perfect athletic shape". there they were - shaking, pale, trying to throw up. i felt so sad for them - really, only 2 miles left. i really hope they were able to get things together and make it to the end.
anyway, from mile 24 onward, it was stop and go. it was really hard, folks. really hard. i felt like i was tearing my muscle from the bones. i had so much lactic acid built up, my muscles were literally bulging, and i really needed some salt. electrolytes just were not doing it for me.
but, i did manage to rally for the last .4 miles or so, and i finished with a 4:51.
so, i'm happy.
yay! onto the next race!
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