i did the portland marathon yesterday and beat my last years time by 17minutes. I felt fantastic the entire time. I really have to say that the gym training we've been doing made such a HUGE difference. The marathon is more a test of mental determination than of physical ability. I think all the IWT and interval rows we've done really prepared me for this. I barely ran this year so i was actually half prepared to DNF the race. I was pleasantly surprised by how effective our gym training has been and how well it transfered into my running. I was shocked to get a PR. I think there were a few things that made this such a great race for me.
1. the ipod. music really helped.
2. Shirley helped me pace the first 17 miles smarter.
3. Smarter race nutrition.(thanks John! Hammer Gels saved my butt)
4. Jeff running mile 17-20 with me.
This was SUCH a different experience from last year. Last years marathon was one of the worst days of my entire life. I was even kind of mad at myself for doing it. This was quite the opposite. i felt amazing and even high from it. I am going to run it every year until i'm physically unable to complete it. I don't love running. In fact, i don't even like running. I look at the marathon as a measurement of where my mental and physical fitness is at.
10 hours ago
