Completed my 5th marathon

It wasn’t pretty, but it’s now in the history books.

The weather was fantastic. It was cool and sunny with little or no wind. It was excellent weather. I ran by myself which is a bit sad, but that’s just the way I am. This year I didn’t have a running buddy. Unofficially my time was 4:28 or about 10:14/M. So although my goal was 4:15 and I didn’t make it. But at least I was out there and trying to do the impossible. Bottom line, I did my best. There wasn’t anything left in the tank when I finished. As is my problem I was stiff as a zombie starting around mile 20+. As a result I got slower and slower. I had to walk for quite a while around miles 24 and 25. Near the end the 4:15 pace group leaders, and lots of friends passed and tried to encourage me to run, but there was nada, nothing left – all I could do was walk. Only after the capital building did I begin again to shuffle along because I knew my family was waiting for me at the finish and I just couldn’t be seen walking then. So I hoofed it down Congress as best I could, but wasn’t pretty. I was stiff, stiff, stiff. What can I say. Last year was so fast at 3:50. Right now I doubt I’ll never get there again. So I’m happy to have completed my 5th marathon and finished it any way I could. Oh and I’m very proud to have the finisher’s shirt and medal which are both cool.
However the medal ain’t expensive bling-bling. No gold, silver or platinum or precious stones, but it is precious to me, because of the investment in sweat and time that I spent to get it. I’m proudly wearing them today for everyone to see.

Update: Here is my heart rate. You see my heart rate drop after 4:00 because I was walking.

Update: Here are my splits.

Mile Split Total Heart rate
1 10:10.74 0:10:10.74 132
2 09:10.25 0:19:20.99 142
3 09:02.42 0:28:23.41 138
4 09:28.12 0:37:51.53 140
5 09:09.09 0:47:00.62 146
6 09:00.25 0:56:00.87 144
7 09:20.88 1:05:21 146
8 09:20.45 1:14:42 148
9 09:20.99* 1:24:02 149
10 09:20.99* 1:33:24 149
11 09:28.93 1:42:53 150
12 09:20.85 1:52:13 150
13 09:15.29 2:01:29 148
14 09:00.12 2:10:29 148
15 10:06.07 2:20:35 146
16 09:25.45 2:30:00 147
17 09:42.33 2:39:43 147
18 09:41.09 2:49:24 146
19 09:40.19 2:59:04 145
20 09:41.24 3:08:45 147
21 10:47.52 3:19:33 138
22 10:28.81 3:30:02 142
23 10:09.66 3:40:11 141
24 12:01.58** 3:52:13 131
25 16:19.72** 4:08:33 116
26.2 20:12.96** 4:28:45 110

* missed split
** run/walk


Update: That’s me finishing.

Photo courtesy of Action Sports International

4 comments

  1. did you use your invented bag pants??? You did great dad. if you think about who actually finishes a marathon, not me, let alone 5 of them…you should be very proud of yourself. 🙂

  2. Nope, I didn’t use the fancy pants. It’s still in its zip-loc baggie. I’ll save it for you and you can have the delight of trying it on and ripping it off. So I only wore the upper garbage bag top (three holes: one for head and two of arms) for a little while leading up to the start. Once I started running, I warmed up quickly.

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