No, I did not run two-and-a-half miles further than the Napa Valley Marathon course last Sunday. The Nike+iPod system lied to me all day. Mile 18 (yea!) was really mile 17 (boo!). This has been going on for months, most likely. It was damned demoralizing to learn I've been running more slowly than I thought.
Still, I managed to cut an hour and 17 minutes off my first marathon time of 4:41 to clock in at 3:24:40. Out of 2,300 registered runners, I managed to place 182nd. Or, if you consider just the men aged 35-39, I placed 36th. My average pace of 7:49 a mile most likely means I started around 7:00 and finished over 8:00.
The course was, as you might imagine, beautiful. Gentle hills, cool but not cold air, and a starting line immediately fronting our hotel. Jenny fell in love with Solage Calistoga. We got a few good pictures. We also had our lungs and flexibility tested the day before at the marathon expo. The good news? I have the lungs of a 22-year-old, which shocked me. The bad news? I'm as flexible as a cinder block, which didn't shock me at all.
If I had manage to run eight minutes faster ... well, I would have died. But, if I could have cross the finish faster than 3:16, I would have qualified for the Boston Marathon.
The San Francisco Marathon is August 3. The course will be more a challenge than Calistoga to Napa, but if I train more consistently and stretch religiously, I just might pick up those eight minutes.
