Monday, February 04, 2008

Surprise! Marathon Race Report

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

Two weeks after I DNF'ed at the Carlsbad Marathon due to a re-strained ankle, I suited up yesterday at the Surf City Marathon. While it was sunny, calm and 60 degrees at Carlsbad, yesterday at Surf City, it was low to mid 40's, steady rain, and lashing winds, some to 30 mph. Great day for a marathon, right?!

I told no one I was doing this. Even E. (who was, conveniently, out of town). I knew that all the runners and others would've tried to dissuade me, and tell me that I was crazy.

Well, runners sometimes do dumb things. And I'm one of the dumber runners.

But I'm happy today. I didn't run for time. I ran purely for a shot at redemption.


Despite the weather and my still-weak (but healing very well) ankle, I finished in 4:13:06. I ran some of the fastest miles after Mile 23, and ran the last .20 at an 8:25/mile pace, weaving through hordes of half-marathon walkers, pumping my fist, grinning like an idiot, and screaming, "26 miles! 26 miles!"

At the end, I was so happy and felt so good that I could have kept going.

Race report coming.

16 comments:

  1. Well so much for "easing" back into running..lol But somehow I knew you wouldn't stay out of running completely for long. Glad to hear that you were able to redeem yourself!

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  2. Great Job! Glad you finished and finished strong. This is Brian...we ran together through the park with the 4 hr pace group.

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  3. Holy smokes! well, yes, never listen to any of us again! We have no idea what we're dealing with, obviously!

    Fantastic job! Your ankle doesn't sound too weak to me! and what a surprise for E.! ha ha!

    I've heard that time off can actually help. Here's proof!

    you go, girlfriend.

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  4. Hi Brian! You did great in the marathon - way to rock the 4:00 goal time! Next time, I hope to BQ. Just gotta be fully-healed ....

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  5. Congratulations! I wouldn't have tried to talk you out of another race. By pulling up early due to your ankel in Carlsbad, you didn't beat yourself up to bad. I'm sure you were ready to go for the Surf City. I love running in the rain ... I don't about running for 4 hours in the rain, but you won't soon forget running in those conditions.

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  6. Just a l'il old long race, eh? Nice job. Nice time. And you don't need to redeem yourself to anybody, esopecially not yourself.

    Tonight my brother-in-law took me on an hour run in the dark over powder covered mountain trails on Sun Mountain in Santa Fe while it was snowing, altitude over 7,000 feet, illuminated by LEDs on our foreheads. The view of Santa Fe was stupendous, an awesome experience (except for getting poked by a Yucca Plant, and taking one tumble on some snow-covered rocks). But unlike you on your surprise run, we didn't go very fast.

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  7. well done - you certainly can put the Carlsbad deamons to bed for once and for all. Sometimes performance is better when there is no pressure (which is all internal anyway) - just thnik what you could achieve with two good ankles.

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  8. Congrats I think! Now that raises the bar for everyone else - THANKS!

    4:13 w/o even really trying and on a bum ankle. Unbelievable!

    Still waiting for the medal pic :-)

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  9. Totally awesome! I can certainly relate to the dumb runner mentality. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. Congrats.

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  10. That's what I like to hear. Smoking finishes with big smiles.

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  11. Way to make a come back!!! That is incredible, Bex!

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  12. I ran the Surf City 5k and the thing that kept going through my mind was, "I'm sure glad I'm not attempting the marathon in this weather!" Looks like you were one of the crazy runners who did! You are awesome!

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