Marathon races are about endurance, and my latest marathon was no exception. I signed up for the Delaware Marathon to force myself to complete a long run. I had been slacking off the past four months, rarely ran more than 10 miles a week. With this lack of training, my modest goal was to finish within four hours.
This was my second Delaware Marathon. The course has changed. Instead of 4 even loops, now we have a 10 mile loop and three 5+ mile loops.
Highlights:
Parents dropped me off and left to attend a funeral.
Hung out with Frontrunners Jeff who wanted to do a 3:30
Started out on pace at 9 minute mile for the first three miles
Shot up to 7.5 minute mile sometimes around mile 5
After 10 miles: around 82 minutes
Saw Jeff half way into the first small loop. He was about 1/2 mile ahead of me but looked like he was struggling
I started to struggle after Mile 18
Saw Jeff near the turnaround point of the second small loop. He was only about 200 yards ahead, and was definitely struggling
I continued to struggle as my body started to crap out: blister on left foot, right toenails under pressure, quads tight
Past Jeff near the end of the second small loop.
My quad muscles crapped out; started one of five mini-walks
Miles 22, 23, and 24 markers couldn't have come soon enough
I was determined to protect my lead (over Jeff), so I never walked for more than 20 steps.
Once I saw Mile 25 marker, I started lifting my knees and powered myself to the finish line
I saw Jeff crossing the finish line about 10 minutes later. He had no idea he brought out the competitiveness in me, and single-handedly helped me to beat my expected time by almost 10 minutes.
Waited around for 30 minutes until my parents came back to pick me up.
How are my feet doing? Just look at the photo
Labels: marathon, running
