My time was 4:03:22 =(. I am disappointed to have not finished under 4 (you raised my hopes), but I know if I had a better day I could have. I never felt as if I had my pacing down, since Julie, Monica and I slowed down every time one of our family members and/or one of us stopped/slowed at the water stations - it was almost as if there were too many distractions. Then I felt Monica falling behind at mile 11, slowed down at times for her, but
at mile 13, I convinced Julie (who wanted to wait for Monica) to keep going.

Also a strange pain hit me in the right hip at mile 11 (nothing I had ever felt before???), which was also why I wanted to keep going, and it basically stayed with me for the rest of the race. Then in the last mile I felt as if I had cement blocks in my quads - is that what people call hitting the wall? Yet as slow as I had felt I was going (my last few 5 miles ranged from 8:41 to 9:03), it was great passing so many people at the end (no one passed me after mile 20). So I think it was a fair effort for a first, and I'm already looking forward to more, with your help of course. I will probably come out to the track tonite and just walk/jog a few laps. I'm still feeling a little tight...

Gloria

Congratulations on a good effort. No two days in the marathon are ever the same. Most people find that they have good days and bad days and that it is often hard to predict what type of day you will have for a specific marathon.

Dr. Ray gave me a severe toungue lashing on Saturday for getting your hopes too high on a Sub 4:00 in your first effort. I have regretted it from the moment the words left my mouth, but once they are out there, there is no pulling them back. I think you ran very well and I am proud of you for persevering when things weren't going as you planned. This bodes well for your future.

Yes, I could see in your eyes that you were having a tough day. The cement blocks in your thighs were most likely due to muscle fatigue and the build up of waste product related to a high rate of fat matabulism due to reduced stores of sugar. It sounds like you needed to eat one or two goos in the final miles to replenish you muscle sugar.

You also would have suffered from speeding up and slowing down, early in the race. It is almost never good when runners of differing abilities attempt to run together in a marathon. Even runners who are equal will go through up times and down times, your up times and down times may not match those of your partner. The best way to get a good marathon result is to run as evenly as possible. Speeding up and slowing down is counter productive. I would only agree to run with another runner, if they were much slower than I and my purpose for running with them was to help them to a faster time, not to improve my own time.

You should rest at least until Thursday and then start back slowly, gradually building your mileage over the next three weeks. We would love to see you at the track tonight, but I recommend NO RUNNING!

Good Job,

John

Thank you John, you are always so good with the insight and feedback you provide. See you Saturday then...Have a good week,