Motorola Marathon

Race: Motorola Marathon
Date: February 2004
Finish Time: 3:30

Race Summary:
The choice to run this marathon was decided on the flip of a coin with two of my good friends. Heads, I get to run the 13.1 and Tails I get to run 26.2. The coin landed tails and had a day to prepare for the race.

My training up to this point was... for lack of a better word... random. I had not ran this distance before and the longest run up to race day was about 15 miles. I figured that was good enough to get me home but I had no idea how the lack of training would ultimately feel.

Of course I ran with the 3:10 pace group. I mean, why not? No training. No experience. No clue. Three perfectly good reasons to step up to the front of the line with the guys trying to qualify for Boston.

The race felt great up to about mile 20 or 21. I could hardly believe I had made it this far without a total explosion. We were on pace to finish in 3:07 which put me well into Boston Qualification territory with room to spare for the upcoming hills but just as the thought of running in Bean Town entered my mind, my legs began to take on a mind of their own, spazaming and locking up in tandom. It was the beginning of the end. However, I made it to the finish line in about 3:30 which is not a bad time, but is no Boston.

I plan on doing this race again in 2007. I have ran the 1/2 Marathon twice since then but it is about time to revisit the Marathon distance and see if I can knock out that Boston goal.