Marathon - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Yesterday was the marathon (Green Mountain Marathon) that I trained for all summer.

Here's the good news:  I finished.  I qualified for the Boston Marathon.  I finished 4th in my age group.  I survived (barely).

The bad new:  I was slower than I planned.  Slower than I expected.  So I was little disappointed.  It was not a day for speed.  The wind was in our face for a long time on the second half. (I felt so good at the turn)   It was cold and the road was wet.  After comparing some other runners times to their previous performances it was clear that it was not a day for personal records.  Still, after all the preparation, I would have liked a better result.

The ugly is that I got got pretty ill.  I nearly passed out when I slowed for Gatorade at one of the last aid stations.   After I finished, I went downhill fast (LOL).  I nearly passed out but got escorted, slowly, to a place I could sit and recover. A very  nice young lady, whose name I cannot remember, attended to me.  I really could have used some O2.   Then, I threw up, twice.  Once about an half hour after the race and again about an hour and half later.

I'm well recovered now. (I shot 79 with my Monday morning golf group).  Still sore, but feeling better overall.   No running for a week.  I need to recover.  I'll ride my bike, either indoors or out, depending on the weather.  It'll be good therapy.

Boston?  2 days ago I would have said yes, definitely.  Now, I'm thinking not.  Yesterday was very difficult even with all the training.  Boston is in April and I don't know how I could train properly during ski season.

Of course, yesterday,  after the race I was thinking I'd never run another marathon.  Now I'm having 2nd thoughts and maybe, just maybe, I'll find a race that'll be too enticing to resist.   I may be crazy.  We'll see.

Meanwhile,  I'm looking forward to the upcoming ski season and maybe even a 10k or a half-marathon sometime in November.

Was it all worth it?   Absolutely!   I'd do it all over again.   Running 26.2 miles is a worthy accomplishment.