2 for 1

The Baltimore Marathon went well. I felt so comfortable, that within the first couple of miles, I decided to stray from my 3:20 plan and run a little faster. This plan changed again around mile 5. And again a couple miles later, and again. Eventually, I found myself wondering around the half way point if I could pull off a Boston qualifying time and still feel like I was running comfortably and not pushing myself. The weather was perfect, I was barely breathing heavy (heart rate in the low 130s up until that point), and I felt great. So, I ramped up my speed yet again. The 16 to 22 mile stretch is very similiar to Boston, which is to say, quite hilly for a road marathon with increasing inclines before a gradual decline near the end. I crossed the line in 3:08:10 with very little discomfort. I felt like I could have easily run another 8 to 10 miles. And, though I had run a BQ time back in May, it felt good to qualify with so little effort. (Only later did I realize that, now that I'm older, 3:15 is the BQ time!).

At that point, the idea I had in the back of my mind came to the front. Can I run the Atlantic City marathon tomorrow?! There was race day registration, so I could get up in the morning, see how my legs feel, and decide then.

The rest of my Saturday contained Costco, Acme, yardwork, a quick 20 minute run to loosen my legs, some drinking at Tony and Brad's, and retiring to bed around 11:00. I felt fantastic all day...more like I ran a 10 mile tempo run than a relatively quick marathon.

Sunday morning, I ran down the stairs and through my living room. Legs felt good. Off to AC!

Again, the weather was perfect, almost identical to yesterday, 50F at the start, sunny, and light winds. Unfortunately, I realized about 2 minutes into the race that my legs were not as fresh as I thought. They didn't really loosen up until around mile 18. It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable. I continued to get faster throughout the race, increasing my speed much less quickly than yesterday. I was in 51st place at the 1/2 way point, 33 place at ~20 miles, 24th place with 3 to go, and finished 16th in 3:25:03 (out of just 216 runners). My goal was a 3:29 (8min/mile) as I've never run a road marathon on my own at >=8/mile. Afterwards and for the rest of the day (and still today actually) I finally felt like I ran a marathon. Soreness, fatigue, really sore quads...it all felt like it normally does after 26.2. I feel great that I was able to do 2 in one weekend. Odds are, I'll never be in good enough shape to do this again and even if I am, having the races be located so close geographically and having the Sunday one have race day registration is unlikely. It feels great to have been able to do this, to feel great while doing so, and to not get hurt (which would have turned it into something stupid rather than something impressive and a moment to be proud of).

Hopefully another marathon or two before winter will be on my schedule...

PS...I don't recommend the AC marathon for anybody except for those looking for a fast time. Its extremely flat and straight. However, it can be boring. 2 out and backs. Half along the boardwalk, half along Atlantic Ave. Go back to the start. Repeat. Frequent, well stocked aid stations. You get a nice long sleeve cotton T and a medal. The big problem is the finish. The last several miles, you're zipping through boardwalk crowds, praying that a collision is not imminent. Crossing the finish line, you're handed a bag with your post-race food and beverages. A bottle of water, one banana, one bagel. That's it. No tables with more water or gatorade. No sugar/simple carbs besides from your bag contents. Asking for more water I was told to take another bag (and thus deprive one of the back of the packers what they would need). Yeah, sure. You'd think that $65 for such a small race would get you more than that.