Cathy Dotson ran the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Half Marathon and finished with a time of 4:31:52. This was a personal record by 13 minutes!
It was a destination race. The most challenging was overcoming some bathroom stops and some other issues and pushing through not stopping or giving up. Mentally I pushed myself the last 4 miles. When I got to the finish it was worth the push!
Thanasis Kypraios ran the Athens Authentic Marathon 2017 and finished with a time of 3:52.
Seventh consecutive race since 2011. This was special because my main goal was to help a friend break 3:45. And of course it was extra special as we had great visitors from Runners Connect around the world. Sascha, Luc, Belen and Pedro honoured our city by taking part in the marathon. Thank you guys.
Let’s talk about the race: even from the first couple of km’s I realized that it would be tough because of the high humidity… I was extra cautious on taking energy, water and electrolytes and thankfully I had no problem during the race. But we didn’t manage to break 3:45, we finished at 3:52 which still was a PR for my friend. For me, I will take some rest and then, I will focus on my big goal which is a flat marathon in March. I am happy that I have run a full marathon without special preparation for it, just as if it were a longer run than usual. I finished it completely fresh and happy!
A huge thank you to all the coaches of Runners Connect, the community and of course the RC Greek runners! To the next one!
Cheryl Red ran the Monterey Bay Half Marathon with a finishing time of 2:28:00.
It’s the second time I’ve run this race, which was my first HM last year. It’s my third HM, which is something I never thought I would do. Despite all the training and planning, I tweaked my hip a few days before the race. It wasn’t bad enough to not run, so I plowed ahead.
The first 5 miles were fantastic. I started a couple of corrals back with a friend of mine, and figured it would keep me honest by not starting off too fast. That was fine, and I felt great. Just after mile 5, the trouble started with my left foot. My second toe (longer than the rest) had shooting pains. So from mile 5 until the end, my first two toes were pushing up against the front of the shoe. So my right leg started to overcompensate, and that made the hip angry. Those were the most miserable miles I’ve run.
I was 13 minutes slower than my goal time, and 8 minutes slower than my previous two HM times. It wasn’t the end of the world, as I wasn’t injured, just had a bad situation. And I still finished before the 2:30 mark, which was good. I think I’ll switch to 10ks for a while, where the stakes are a little lower. But then I’ll probably sign up for another HM.
Carol Plummer ran the Southern Fried Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:41:17, which was a PR by 10 seconds!
I went into this race wanting to place in the top 3 Master’s Overall. At the age of 50, that is getting harder to do. Based on prior year results, I knew that I would need to break 1:40:00 to have a chance at this goal. My half marathon PR was 1:41:30, but that was set 6 years ago. My most recent half marathon was 1:47:50 and I had worked hard for that. And my training has been going well lately, so I believed I had a chance. The biggest uncertainty was a hamstring issue I have been dealing with the last few months.
I decided for this race that it was going to be all or nothing. My hamstring ached through the entire race. But just a minor ache, so I just ignored it. My watch miles matched up with each mile marker really well, until mile 13. But as I turned towards the finish line and saw the clock, I knew I was going to miss my time. I was trying to start off this race at my goal pace and run even splits. Unfortunately, the last 3miles consisted of a steep bridge to cross and then turning into a headwind for the last 2miles. That sapped all of my remaining energy. I was able to keep myself from slowing, but I didn’t have anything left to pick up the pace. So, when I crossed the finish line I was a bit disappointed in my finish time of 1:41:17. But I reminded myself that it was still a PR of 10 seconds from my best ever and over 6 minutes from my race in May. I still didn’t know how I did on my main goal though. So, I found my way to the results table and discovered that I had finished 2nd Overall Masters! I made my goal!! And I won $200!!
Darrell Schroeder ran the Rock n Roll Vegas Half Marathon and finished this race in the time of 2:15:09.
Just missed a PR but was very satisfied with the result anyway. As someone said to me before the race, “You don’t run Vegas to get a personal best. It’s 13.1 miles but you’ll run 15 just weaving around people.” The start was very congested as they had to re-plan the start after the recent events in Vegas. I probably lost a minute over the first 3k just dealing with the crowds and trying to loosen up after standing in one spot for an hour. Settled into a good pace after that and was probably a minute under PR pace at the halfway point. The one thing I didn’t expect – it was dark and I couldn’t see my watch to monitor time and distance. Without a proper reference I just maintained pace by feel, and didn’t really kick at the end. I probably lost another 2-3 minutes over the last 5k by not picking up the pace. As it turned out I finished within 20 seconds of PR time. If I’d been aware of where I was on time I could have easily had a PR – I had lots left at the end.
All things considered I was very happy with the result. Was very happy that I maintained a constant pace over the whole race. While it didn’t help my time any, it was satisfying to be passing people continuously through the whole race. Thanks to the RC coaches and community for getting me prepared for the race. I felt good and strong and wasn’t exhausted at the end. There’s lots left there to continue to improve my times.
Ryan Anklam ran the Monterey Bay Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:29:39. This was a personal record by 9 minutes!
In May I finished my second half marathon in 1:38:39 which was a huge PR for me, but I knew I could do more so I set my goal on getting under 1:30 for the next one. Unfortunately three weeks later I ended up with a stress fracture in my right tibia and had to take 6 weeks off. When I finally started training again that injury was always in the back of my mind, but I felt ready heading into race weekend.
When I toed the line on Sunday morning I had no idea how it would go. From my previous experience I knew I could trust the RunnersConnect process but it’s hard to be 100% confident when you’ve run so few miles at race pace. The first 3 miles went great my HR was low and my breathing was steady and controlled. Then a pretty steep hill between miles 3 and 4 took a lot of effort and the next two miles were a bit downhill which was just enough for me recover and by mile 6 I was feeling pretty good again. I took my gel and water as prescribed by my custom race plan and kept going.
I’m not sure if it it was the hill or the gel and water but I ended up with a side stitch for the next 3 miles. My body kept begging me to pull over and take a quick walk to ease the pain. It was during this stretch that I kept repeating to myself a few lines from my custom race plan, “Remember, when racing at your best, it will hurt. How bad are you willing to hurt and for how long?”. I must have repeated it 30 times during that stretch, it helped keep my mind off the discomfort and kept me pushing on. By mile 10 pain in my side starting getting better and I started passing a few people which gave me a bit of a mental boost.
A short hill just before mile 12 once again brought out the the gremlin on my shoulder that kept whispering in my ear, “just take a little walk, a 1:32 is still a great time”. Just after the hill the course takes a left turn which gave me a glimpse of the finish. I glanced down at my watch and saw 1:22:50. I knew that my goal was within reach, but that it was going to take a huge effort to do so. I don’t remember much from that last mile, just that I kept my sights focused on the finish line. When I was close enough to read the clock I could see that it read 1:29:xx so I just put my head down and ground out the last 100 feet and saw that it was still on 1:29 when I passed the line.
I got pretty emotional when I crossed the line knowing that I met my goal. I took a minute to think back to all the painful training runs, but most of all I thought back to when I had my stress fracture and how miserable I was when running was taken away from me and how grateful I was to be there with my family cheering me on.
Susan Spencer ran the Madison Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1:44:58, which was a PR!
What I love about road races, versus track, is that you’re not just racing your competitors; you’re also racing the course. I finished second in age group (F55-59), which also would have been second in ages 45-59, and I raced according to my plan. So I did well against the field, I paced myself and I felt good throughout. ‘Not quite so well against the twisty-turning course, though. I’ve considered myself an experienced tangent runner, but apparently there’s room for improvement on a course like this!
My Garmin has this as a (age group) PR: it marked my 13.1 miles in 1:43:11, which would be 0:1:28 faster than what I ran at Frosty Half Marathon last year, and a 7:53 pace. But Frosty is an uncertified course, so Madison may well be my age-group PR for a certified distance.
Eric Reichenbach ran the Rock n Roll Half Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 2:32:27, which was a PR!
It was my first half marathon I have learned a lot from the race and the training to get ready for it
Eric Reichenbach ran the Rock n roll Las Vegas 5k and finished this distance in the time of 28:42. This was a PR by 2 minutes!
Pedro Marques ran the Athens Marathon the Authentic and finished in a time of 4:01:54. which was a PR!
Several things made this race special: 1st it was my first Marathon; 2nd the course 😉 and 3rd the organisation of the event and the Greek crowds were amazing! The race it self was quite hard, and from km31 I just had to fight hard for every km till the end. But this it totally worth it, to enter that stadium is something special. Finish time was above my goal time of 4:00:00, but in the end that doesn’t matter so much. The experience was simply amazing.
John Markianos ran the Athens Marathon and finished in 4:39:52. This was a new personal record by 12 minutes!
I ran the Athens Marathon in 2015 and also a full marathon in Thessaloniki (a town North of Greece). The Athens marathon has mild uphills and downhills up to the 20th km and then a steady uphill until 31. This makes it a very rough race because we reach the 32nd Km tired. From then on it is downhill. Weather was warm up to the 5th Km and then cloudy with a breeze that cooled us down. I drank water every 2,5 Km and had gels at every 10 km with a salt pill at 15. I do not know if this “fuelling” was sufficient. Maybe the interruption to my training for 10 days due to an ankle sprain on 15 October also played some role.
Sascha Fennel ran the Athens Authentic Marathon and finished this race in the time of 4:01:21.
This is what you came for! In the second half of this race, I have played this song by Calvin Harris over and over in my head. It has been my answer as one question did not stop coming back: Why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through so much pain? Is it because I have not run a marathon in more than two years with major injury breaks in between? Is it because I have reinjured myself one month before this marathon when everything seemed fine? Or is it just a very, very tough marathon that takes out everything from you?
Whatever it is, this marathon is for me the confirmation of why I love marathons. If it was easy everyone would do this and there would be no sense of pride and accomplishment. It has been hard. It has been a real monster of a marathon. And despite all the possible reasons and acceptable excuses I have conquered it. Some days before the race, I wrote my A goal is to have fun with this marathon and make it an awesome experience. My B goal is to arrive in the stadium with a huge smile. C goal – hey under 4 hours would be fantastic. But this race will not be about time but about the experience.
I had major fun with this marathon. I arrived in the stadium waving happily my olive tree branch that I brought over from the city of Marathon as a sign of my victory. I ended up a bit over 4 hours but this is not the most important. Less than the final time I am happy that I succeeded a smart race without exploding. And I am one of the few to have managed a negative split. And it has been an incredible human experience with all these great members of our RunnersConnect family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! All this makes for an unforgettable experience and I could not be more grateful!
Giorgos V ran the Athens Authentic Marathon and finished with a time of 5:10:21.
Although not my fastest time, it was the first time that I felt strong enough to not walk at all during the race. The pace instructions and the advice on holding back until the middle of the race, as well as those for tackling uphills were perfect.
Richard Costen ran the Kent Cross Country League 10k, finishing this distance in the time of 45.20.
This was my first proper Cross Country Race in over 25 years. I represented my club ‘The Dartford Harriers’. The course was hilly and slippy as ours was the last race of the day. I was slipping about a bit but think that my time would have improved slightly if I was wearing trainers. I ran the race as planned for a change, not a PR as I was a lot quicker in my youth. Overall not a bad race and looking forward to the next one. 195 overall and about 37th in my age group in the County of kent.
Herbert Seevinck ran the TCS NYC Marathon and finished in a time of 3:40:11, which was a PR!
First marathon ever and I loved every bit of it. Ran much faster than expected.
Mihir Saswadkar ran the Local Race Half Marathon and completed this distance in the time of 2:25:47.
I was running this distance after nearly 1.5 years, during which I had stopped running for a few months due to blisters and ankle pain. Considering that, I clocked a pretty good time.
Spyros Tsakalos ran the Athens Classic Marathon and finished this race event in the time of 4:00:54. This was a PR by 12 minutes!
Definitely one of the toughest marathons with 326 m elevation gain. The hot weather and high humidity make it even tougher. Even I could not have been able to brake the 4 hours I managed together with @Zach Depian to make a great race with a very negative split and a great PB
Alexandros Kostis ran the Athens Marathon, The Authentic and finished with a time of 4:30:33. This was a personal record by 8 minutes!
Another marathon the 3rd consecutive is over with mixed feelings. Very happy that improved last year’s Marathon time by 8 minutes which is my PB, but outside 4:13:00 target. I was almost within my race plan up until 30 km (short by 2 min at half distance, and by 3 min at 30 km mark). I was hoping to catch up during the last 12 km but my stomach was not feeling very well and I was forced to slow down and walk a little at some points. Maybe a combination of fueling strategy (took the first gel earlier this year at 5 k ) and weather was the reason. Anyway during a marathon race things can happen that you can’t really predict during training.
Thank you coaches for the help because I really enjoyed the training period and the race. Now rest for a couple of days and think of the next goal.
Silviu BURCEA ran the #NoSpeedLimits – 1000m and finished in a time of 3.26, which was a PR by 10 seconds!
I’ve met with some friends on the track for a 1000m test. One guy, Vali, was aiming for 3.20-ish and this sounded appealing to me. With the plans ready, we took off. Spoiler: it was a roller-coaster!
0-400: Vali took the lead, I have followed closely, the rest of the guys remained behind me the whole race. We knew we need exactly 20s/100m and we were spot on. The main thing was that despite running really really fast, I’ve felt OK, like running a 4.00 pace, not a 3.20 pace.
400-600: I don’t know if I had a physical or mental breakdown here. Vali was going strong and I was starting to fade away. Strava says 1.46 at 500m(according to GPS), 3.32 pace.
600-1000: OK, I wasn’t going to give up just like that. I knew from last time in July that there is a moment of weakness and the actual race starts right there. I was aware that at this point, I have around 1 minute of pain until the end so I stopped being slow and started being fast.The mental race was starting. It was game ON! Vali was still going strong and the steps between us felt like I was never going to even get close, but I started to close the gap and by the 800m I was there. As soon as we’ve reached the straight line, at 900 meters, I knew that I have to give my everything and started my kick. Around 950 meters, the magic happened and I’ve taken the lead. Whoa, boy! I didn’t know if I was going to keep the lead and continued to run like a madman. I have taken a peek at my watch when I crossed the track line for 1000m and noticed that the last number is a 6, which turned into a 7 after that. I have checked the watch and noticed that it was a 3.26 or a 3.27. Since Vali got 3.27 and he said that I was a few meters ahead, I have picked 3.26, which is a 10s improvement since July! We haven’t ignored the cooldown and, since we enjoyed the 3-4 minutes fight with the clock, we decided that we should repeat the 1000m test in the future.
Michael Parker ran the Monterey Bay Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1:37:01, which was a PR by 3:02.
This is by far my favorite race. Beautiful weather, flawless organization and a spectacular course. I had been running well for about a month leading up to the race and was confident heading into the weekend. My previous PR was 1:40:03 and my goal was to break 1:40 finally. I was a little concerned warming up because my quads were a little sore from my 5K PR on Saturday but once the race started they seemed to loosen up a little. I ran each mile based on how I was feeling rather than trying to hit specific paces and was intentionally conservative for the first 3 miles. The further into the race I got, the better I seemed to feel until about mile 7 when I could feel fatigue in my legs. I was running 7:30’s at this point and decided to slowly pick up the pace. At mile 9 I decided that no matter what, I was running hard to the finish and I started setting targets of people to pass. The more people I passed, the stronger I felt and although I could feel the hurt in my quads, I knew that if I didn’t cramp I was going to be fine. I finished with 4 consecutive 7:10’s and ended up with a 3:02 PR…..way faster than my goal. Maybe the coolest part was after the race a handful of “young” guys came to shake my hand and tell me that chasing me led them to PR’s as well. Old guys rule 🙂 I only placed 4th in my age group but I was only a little over a minute from the winner so there’s hope for next year.
Michael Parker ran the Pacific Grove Lighthouse 5K and completed this distance in the time of 20:51, which was a PR by 48 Seconds!
I ran pretty hard but under control. I won my age group by about 2 minutes but the highlight was getting my age group award from Deena Kastor. Awesome course, weather and event. Nice to PR, win and meet a legend.
Ann Marie Bowen ran the Trinity River Run Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:52:23.
Wow! This race was a tough one! The weather was bad: 68 at start and I assume 100% humidity because it was misty. I really struggle in humid weather. I tried to start at the 8 min/mile I had discussed with coach, but ended up starting fast. By mile 4 I had a bad cramp and just shy of mile 8 I ended up a port-a-potty with stomach issues. Obviously, all of this interfered with me maintaining any sort of goal pace. I really pushed hard to do my best despite not feeling good. The last 3 miles, I was having major breathing issues. I wanted so bad to sprint in but literally could barely breath. All of this to say, wasn’t my best race performance… hardest half I’ve run. Oh, and the hills were bigger/steeper than I expected on this course too!
That being said, I had a little redemption in that I placed 3rd in my age group and actually think the race was a good test for my perseverance in pushing as hard as I can despite feeling horrible. Hoping to work through the issues as I continue my training. At the least, I got a hard workout in and hopefully that will aid in my training.
Simeon Bayles ran the After the Leaves Have Fallen Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:31:15.
Put this race on your bucket list. Absolutely stunning and inspiring. This is a trail HM that ended up measuring 12.5 miles. With a 1000ft of climbing, some smooth and some not smooth carriage roads as well as some ice it was a good challenge. We ran around glacial lakes, across the top of cliffs, through dense pine forests and over rivers. They limit the field to 300 each year so it had a great feel to it as well. Placed 10th overall and 2nd in my AG. Wasn’t training for a race but was able to surprise myself and run strong and smooth till the final mile when I slowed a bit. This race is now on my calendar every year. Big shout out to RC’er Geoff Hablow for hooking me up with an extra race bib. Thanks man.
Campbell McCallum ran the UNC Fall Classic 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 21:45. This was a new personal record by 2:30.
My current plan by coach Hayley has been focused on speed and it really paid off. I started too fast and then fell back a bit but did speed up for a negative last split. I finished 45th overall and 5th in my age group in a strong field of over 500 racers. I’m so happy to say that I did have a very nice PR by more than 2:30 so overall feel great about this one! I knew this would be a fast group when I saw a 20 minute pacer running in front of me Lol ☺
Todd Walter ran the Richmond Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1:30:35, which was a PR by 59 seconds!
After an extremely mild Fall in NC a strong cold front swept through just in time for race day and plummeted the temperatures to 24 degrees at the start. I don’t like to wear tights and heavier clothes but felt it was more important to try and keep my muscles warm instead of giving them more freedom of movement. Goal 1 was sub 1:32 to get a qualifying time for NY next year; goal 2 was to beat my PR of 1:31:34; and goal 3 was sub 1:30. My strategy was to go out the first 3 miles about 10 – 15 seconds over goal pace and then make it up later. My toes were numb from the start and I had a rough time feeling comfortable in my form. I came across the 10k mark at 7:04 average pace which was a little slower than I had wanted. Miles 7 and 8 was the hilliest part. Coming out of the hills I felt a little resurgence physically and mentally that I was still on pace to at least hit my first goal. I started picking it up clipping off sub 7:00 miles and finished the last 5 miles averaging 6:40 pace with the finishing mile at 6:23 to nail my PR. I think that if it was about 10 degrees warmer I would have hit my sub 1:30 goal. In any event I really felt that the RC training plan I had put me at the best fitness level I have ever been in and positioned me for that strong finish – thanks coaches!
Tony Malinauskas ran the Savage Obstacle Race and finished with a time of 1:29:25.
PODIUM! (Really! They called me up to the podium!) Won the bronze in my age group AND completed all 29 obstacles on 7.2 mile swampy course. This race included an obstacle that had knocked me out of 100% successful obstacle completion in 3 previous races, so it was great to finally get sweet revenge.
Zach De Pian ran the Athens Marathon and finished this distance in the time of 4:00:54, which was a PR by 3 minutes!
Wow. What a challenge! We ran this with fellow RCer Spyros and we (almost) nailed it. We had a sub-4 target and we clocked 4:00:54 and very proud of it. PB for both of us. Weather was warm and humid at first but later on it got cloudy and windy. We tried to follow our plan but fell two minutes short at the HM mark. We were able to pick up the pace at the last 10K and nailed a negative split which is very difficult for this authentic course. We did some awesome team-work with Spyros at the last part, pulling and pushing each other. Very happy with the result. Thank you RC coaches and RC team-mates.
Manos Drakopoulos ran the Athens Marathon 10k Race and completed this distance in the time of 43:59, which was a PR!
This was my first official 10k race since I started training. Although I have gone faster at the track during interval training, this was something else. Hilly course, almost 5k uphill but also 5k downhill till the end to compensate. I had a strong race, and I was happy to run both uphill and downhill in good fashion.
1st 5k was 22:33
2nd 5k was 21:26This tune up race gave me more confidence for my goal race in two weeks.
John Bird ran the Revel Mt Lemmon Marathon with a finishing time of 2:52:43. This was a massive personal record by 18 minutes!
First ever sub 3 hour which has been my goal since I started running. Has been elusive, with a couple of race disasters, but this year everything seemed to be coming together. Post Chicago was feeling really good and a quick turnaround plan set me up perfect. Realized the PR was within grasp through halfway and held on right to the end. Super excited for future races!
Joe Mullen ran the Anthem Richmond Marathon and finished this race in the time of 3:20:59. This was a personal record by 13 minutes!
New PR & closer to my my ultimate goal to BQ!
Cort Kirkley ran the Richmond Marathon and finished with a time of 3:39:30, which was a PR by 1:00.
While the pr was small in time, the significance is it was 30 years in the making and doing it at age 59. This was my primary goal for 2017 to celebrate 30 years since running NYC (3:40:25) and believing I could improve the time. In the end it was close but I got it done. A BQ time was also a nice bonus. This year, and the 4 month training block in particular, became even more challenging with a divorce, two house moves, a new job, and uncooperative hamstrings. I have probably dealt with more stress in this period then any time in my life. The training kept me centered and focused on a positive goal and made the result that much sweeter. My thanks to the RC coaches for providing a plan that worked. In the end, it was still up to me execute the plan and I’m glad I am still motivated to do so. At my age, I find there is nothing like having a challenging goal and pushing myself through a hard workout to keep me feeling young. Next year’s goal? KQ.
Steffen Lang ran the Lönsparklauf 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 16:25.
Sooo happy and proud. 5 k race in 16:25,6. First good one after the marathon. Bettered my 2016 time by 32s! RC works! Did one mistake though. Made my move at 3.1 km despite I planned it at 3.5-4, because I felt so good. Might have prevented the win?. Never mind the winner was 15 years younger and only 12s ahead. Overall ???? and put my stamp on the race ?
Coaches: thank you. Can’t wait to see next parts of the journey
John Gilmour ran the Edinburgh Men’s 10K and finished in a time of 57.23.
Strongest finish in three years !
Jose Lucero ran the NYC Marathon and finished this race in the time of 4:13:57, which was a PR!
This was my first marathon, I was a little skeptical about what would happen as I had missed a lot of my training in august and September due to injury. I decided to run anyways to see what would happened. When race day arrived I felt ready, with lots of energy and no problems whatsoever from my problematic calfs. The first half of the race I felt very smooth and executed my race plan just as I had planned. The Queensburo bridge was hard but I felt great coming down to First Avenue and started accelerating as I had planned. Both the bridges in The Bronx where really hard, I started loosing my focus but tried to maintain the pace. When I arrived at the outside of the park by KM36 I felt I would throw up, so I stopped. I nice couple gave me a glass of coke and encouraged me to continue. I walked a couple of minutes until I finally managed to run again. The pain I felt on my left calf was very distracting and I had to slow down. The crowds helped a lot and I managed to finally cross the finish line. I felt awesome and couldn’t believe what I had just done, I had just become a marathoner!!
It really was a great experience, I can see know that if hadn’t had the Achilles tendinitis I would have ran the marathon under 4 hours. Next time I’m sure I will. Four days after the race, I feel great and eager to start running again. Thanks coaches for all your help and the great running plans you put together for us.
Scott Shay ran the Cape Cod Marathon Half and finished this distance in the time of 2:29:21, which was a PR!
The race was fulfilling on several levels – with the great training program, by race time, I was “all systems GO!” – I was confident that I was as prepared as I could possibly be. The morning of the race, I was happy, loose, properly fueled, well-rested (listened to an RC podcast on the way down to the race, Hi Sinead!) – really, I felt I was right where I should be – I loved that statement “the hay is in the barn”. I once saw a sign that said “a goal without a plan is just a wish” – I had a goal, a great plan (thanks, Mike) and the real feeling being alive and then accomplishment.
The day, a touch cold in the early am, was spectacular. I did have a training partner, my wife of 27 years, who made most of the 4:30 am track workouts with me. I think she was impressed by my dedication to the program (she beat me by 10 mins.). I remember how I felt at many points along the course – I would have like to have picked up the pace a little earlier than 3 mi, I was feeling good at 5 -8, maybe at 9 I took in some Swedish Fish candy that seemed to help, flagged a bit at 11 but tried to empty the tank last mile.
I was sore really only race day and was surprised at how good I felt the day after. I”ll admit that with work and the last few weeks of the training, I was tired. I also could’ve paid more attention to the strength training part of the program and am looking forward to incorporating it into an overall fitness program. Another item that I could improve on is weight loss – my feeling is that I’m still not at an ideal weight for racing. Maybe another way to say it is I would be faster/feel better if I lost a little more weight. Not sure what’s next – thanks, again for a great training program.
