Record Breaking

I had never run under 4 hours in a marathon. Today, I broke the 4 hour mark for the first time, with a couple minutes to spare, half an hour to spare.

I finished 3:30:27!

Mega Mind

Tomorrow is the marathon. This will be my 3rd Houston Marathon and 10th 26 or + mile running race. Tomorrow my body won't be my greatest strength, it's my mind. Running is the only sport I feel I can use that to my advantage, when you make up your mind you don't want to quit, what the body wants becomes irrelevant. But, only for so long.

The Houston Marathon is generally a flat, fast course and pace runners are out there, meaning a guy with a stick showing his pace lets everyone know how fast he is running the marathon. I'm going to do what I've never done, do what made Prefontaine famous, start out way too fast. I'm going to start running with the 3 hour marathon pace group, an hour faster pace than my fastest marathon ever.

My body can't last the entire marathon at that pace, no way. But to give up on that pace I'll have to fall back and watch as they run past. As soon as the race starts I'll have a 3 hour timer counting down and it's up to my mind to put off self preservation as long as it can.

Quick Who is This Guy?

He is the first US runner to break 1 hr (59:43) in the half marathon. He also has the fastest time ever by an American at the Boston Marathon, and that only got him 4th place. I can get his autograph at the Houston Marathon Expo, but I really don't want to wait in line with 3 other people. Poor guy is at the top of his sport, I wonder if he ever thought about football or basketball?

Marathon

I keep forgetting I am running a marathon this weekend. That's something I probably should be thinking more about. I have been resting rather than training. It has been 3 months since I went any serious amount of distance. I think my knee wanted some time off, but it is about to get a jolt on Sunday.

Doesn't Get Any Easier

I am running a marathon in 2 weeks. Time to start training.

The other day I went for a long run. I got about 16 miles and needed a taxi to pick me up and get me back home. Apparently, I still need to do some work to stay in ultra endurance mode.

6 Degree Run