Yesterday, I ran my first Twin Cities Marathon (although it was the 30th year of the race). My goal was to run a sub-4:00 race, with the dream goal being 3:50. I finished in 3:56:34, taking 50 minutes off my PR, which I set this January at the Walt Disney World Marathon. It was a good race, with a few rough miles at the end. Basically the last 3-4 miles are a gradual incline with a nice little decent in the last 1/2 to 3/4 mile. It's a great course and I will run it again sometime. I'm setting my sights on the Chicago Marathon next year, so I may have to wait another year before I tackle the race.
I felt good most of the race, although I did walk more than I'd have liked that last few miles. After thinking about it, I realized that the weather was warm (not hot, but warm - it was about 50 degrees at the start of the race and 70 degrees when I finished) and sunny. This probably sapped a little energy out of me, because I had some arm warmers on through most of the race, finally shedding them at about mile 19 or so. I also thought my Garmin 405 Forerunner had died, so I used a Timex watch for the race. This meant I didn't have my lap paces available to me. I ran the race by how my body felt and how the pace felt. I must have done all right, although I'd love to see what my splits were for the race. I am certainly not complaining (and last night, I tried charging my watch again and seems to be working again-weird).
When this year started, my marathon PR was 5:17. Now my PR is 3:56. I plan on getting it down even further. I have ideas for Walt Disney World in January and the marathons after that next year, but for today, I'm going to enjoy this race.
