The Marathon! (the short version)

Well, I made it. Finished the Akron Marathon this morning in 4 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds (4:07:49). Here are my split times. Finished right in the middle for my age group (male 25-29) at 27th out of 54 and overall I was 355th out of 786. I'm happy with my performance and it was an amazing experience. I had originally hoped for sub-4 hours, but that gives me a goal for my next marathon, right?

And when you read that "the last 6 miles of the marathon is the last half", that is totally true. I fell behind my 4 hour pace during mile 23 or 24 and it was a battle to not just walk it in. I was only momentarily disappointed, but I knew I was still on pace for a good time if I could get my act together.

Fortunately, I have no injuries to report of. I have a couple of nasty looking toes and just the faint beginnings of a blister on the inside bottom of my left foot. So I consider myself lucky. I started getting a cramp during mile 25 in my right calf (bad timing, I know) but it fortunately went away after a brief stretch and a bit of walking.

I would like to thank my girlfriend Kristy for waking up ridiculously early this morning and driving me down to Akron, cheering her heart out during the race, and being patient while I tried to recover and eventually make it back to the car. Without her support these past 5 months, I would not have been able to do any of this. So thank you Kristy!

I will try to right a more detailed account tomorrow. Hopefully I don't forget all of the details.