alexr_rwx | (no subject)

Graham

cola_fan and Alex

oniugnip: ultimate victorious in the Atlanta Marathon 2K6!

Finishing time: 4:18. Speedy!

It was a beautiful day, totally perfect weather. All the volunteers were super-nice, but more importantly, Lauryn

yourusername and Martin

samarin saw us off and Laura

laurapatt was waiting for us at the finish line, totally taking pictures! Aw, thanks guys :) Also, thanks to everybody else who was supportive!

We went out too fast :) We said "let's not go out too fast." We hit the first mile at a bit slower than 9-minute pace, taking our own advice... and then sped up 'til we hit the halfway point at a ridiculously too-quick 1:54. We were like "oh man, let's break 4 hours!" ... eh, you live, you learn :) And your legs seize up a bit in the process.

But still! First marathon, not bad! :)

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I'm still unsure what the best strategy is for taking breaks. You should plan some breaks, but not too many! I think I planned too many breaks for San Juan. Early on, I took my breaks whether I felt like it or not, and then later I decided to only take them if I needed them, and ended up skipping several. I feel like I would have finished faster if I had skipped one or two of those early breaks. But who knows?

Anyway, congratulations! Any chance you'd travel to the Pacific Northwest for a road race of some kind?

*nods* On the other hand, taking a break before you need it might just get you through... a stitch in time, preventing one in your side? Not too many breaks is definitely good advice!

(The best option, I think, is just to be so hard that you can keep running the whole way :) )

That could be interesting, doing a race in your neighborhood sometime -- let me know when there's an awesome one coming up?