Aaron T. Sterling memorial marathon

oh you didnt know that i was going to run a marathon today? thats funny...

    neither did i.

this week is the 7th week of my marathon training program (out of 18 weeks... around the lake marathon is exactly 11 weeks from RIGHT NOW. 7pm friday night start time on july 27th). this training program is no joke... and im pretty sure pete pfitzinger would probably not approve of the way im distorting his program right now... but i need to do what i need to do in order to work this program around my work and life schedule (im kinda a big deal.... ha, not). the last time i tried to do this program was last summer. we all know how that went (50 mile weeks turned into 2 mile weeks, long runs were less than 10 miles, marathons werent terrible but werent sub 4 like i was trying for).

i was supposed to run 7 recovery miles today and 18 tomorrow, totalling 50 miles for the week (please note: ive never done a 50 mile week). i already knew i was going to do 20 instead of 18, but we are scattering Aaron's ashes tomorrow and i knew i wouldnt want to do those miles tomorrow... so i decided to flip it and do 20 today and 7 tomorrow.

it took me a bit to actually get off the couch and leave the house to go for the run (this is a common occurance). i also had a fight with my outfit and the weather. after finally leaving, i felt great (shocker). at 3 miles, i felt really great (yes, i know, its 3 miles. my mind works in funny ways sometimes). sam had wanted me to try for 9:00min/miles for the 20 miles and i kept seeing 8:25s/8:30s as the miles ticked by. i tried to slow down a bit but my body kept wanting to keep that pace (impending break down coming up? i was sure of it). around mile 11 i stopped to get some water and had decided i was going to try for 26.2, see how i felt, see what i was capable of.

i couldnt stop thinking about aaron on this whole run and he definitely carried me through the miles. it seemed like time was going by so fast. when i got to 20 (averaging 8:45s), i knew (save for that major break down i figured was  coming) that i could go sub 4 hours. i tried to slow down and use the last 6 miles as recovery but i just kept trucking along. my knees were starting to ache and the outsides of my legs were feeling "different", but other than that i felt awesome.

when i got to 23 miles, i knew i had it. at 3:34:55 (what i need to boston qualify... which i am currently NOT training for), my mileage was 24.45. i didnt try to push the final few miles because i have reach the beach 200 mile relay next weekend and a 25k the weekend after (ok yes, in hindsight i probably shouldnt have run a marathon today. i know that. i dont always make great decisions. but i do not regret this run at all. sorry if i suck next weekend, team).

 

final marathon time: 3:51:13

my current marathon PR is 4:15:25, so ill take a 24 minute improvement during a training run. i guess its funny what can happen when you train the right way (and dont text/tweet during the run).

ive decided to name this the Aaron T. Sterling memorial marathon. miss you <3 RIP.