The Austin Marathon

Well it has come and it has gone...I completed my first marathon yesterday, Sunday 2/17. Please check out my full report on my website. It was a good day, all in all. I didn't achieve my goal of a 2:47, however I was on pace for a bit over 1/2 of the race and I felt so comfortable running 6:20's. It was a nice change from a half-marathon to be comfortable running, rather than to feel I was hammering. I just need to continue to build to be able to run that pace for longer. What a race, though! There were thousands of people out there cheering, I wanted to thank them all but well I had to conserve my energy to run. It was fun to see many faces I recognized out there, both racing and cheering. This even truely takes over the city. The energy is just indescribable. If you live in Austin, I really recommend taking part in this, and if you don't, it is a great excuse to visit. Just be prepared for a challenging course...I won't say it was flat out 'hard', because the hills can be a reprieve from the flat terrain (change of muscles used, change of routine, etc) however it is not flat and fast. From what I learned, if you do the full definitely be conservative, I feel I could have done this a bit better. But no excuses made, it as a great day and even though I fell down after finishing as my legs were jello-like,

I loved every painful minute of it. This picture was taken by Mario Cantu here in Austin, it was so nice of him to send this to me soon after I had gotten home on Sunday. It was so great because not only could I jog to the starting line, leaving my house at about 6:15 am, but I also made the long 30-min walk (hobble?) home afterwards! The day was phenomenal, about 42 at the start and maybe in the 50's at the finish. Could not have asked for better running weather. To everyone who supported me along the way, thank you for everything...I though about ya'll during this experience! Finishing in downtown Austin was so amazing, and even though I had to settle for a 2:54, I was very proud I was able to push my body to do this. Now time to get some R&R and decide what is next.... :)