Back to running...and blogging

April was a comparatively inactive month for me with regard to both blogging and running. Not a single blog post in the month of April (although this post marks #100 for me), and while I did run the OKC Memorial Marathon, between a week of tapering and a week of recovery (and a few missed days here and there), I still ended up with just under 100 miles for the month--first month under 100 miles since last December.

This first week of May, I made a point to get back on schedule. On Monday, I had a pretty intense 7.4-miles as I focused on increasing speed up the hills--a drill I plan to continue on Mondays in order to increase my VOx. This morning's 8.4-miler was unusually challenging. I would assume this was because of the intensity of Monday's run combined with the fact that I had the two weeks previous off.

Oklahoma City went pretty well, although I did not come in under 4 hours as I had hoped. My final time ended up at 4:02:45. The run felt good, and I was hardly disappointed with myself. (And I beat last year's OKC time by a long shot!) I know my experience is very limited, but OKC is the most challenging marathon course I have run. Seems like the first 13 miles is just one hill after another. At mile 17, I decided to walk a short, steep incline, simply to save strength. I ran again until mile 20 (and another hill). As usual, that 20-mile mark was a huge wall for me. I walked sections periodically from mile 20 to the finish line, with a final burst for the last half mile in an attempt to finish strong. No photographers caught me walking, so I suppose that this blog is the only piece of evidence. (Maybe I shouldn't have said anything!)

I didn't see too many Runner's World folks during the race. I saw Patty close to the halfway point, and again at the finish line. And I chatted with Eric in my subgroup at around mile 22.

While OKC is the worst "placed" marathon I've run, the race has, by far, the best fans and support of the four different locales in which I have raced (this includes the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Marathon). People were lining the streets for much of the race, and the water stops were the best I've seen. They were plenty long, and the volunteers knew what they were doing. The non-beverage stops (fruit, sponges, sprinklers, Gu) were also well placed. At no time during the race did I worry about the distance until the next water stop.

Next up? I'll be running the Full Moon 5K with my wife this coming weekend, and the weekend after that, I'll be joining a friend of mine for his first half marathon at the Jenks Aquarium.

Marathon results below.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1201 ft Location: Oklahoma City, OK Elev. Gain: -6 ft Date: 04/25/10 Up/Downhill: [+856/-862] Time: 06:37 AM Difficulty: 4.0 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 26.49 miles Time: 4:02:38 Speed: 6.5 mph Pace: 9' 10 /mi Calories: 3375 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 44 -0' 26 6.9 +0.3 -36 ft 2 8' 59 -0' 11 6.7 +0.1 +43 ft 3 8' 50 -0' 20 6.8 +0.2 +10 ft 4 8' 35 -0' 35 7.0 +0.4 -33 ft 5 8' 32 -0' 38 7.0 +0.5 -26 ft 6 8' 31 -0' 39 7.0 +0.5 -30 ft 7 8' 36 -0' 34 7.0 +0.4 +29 ft 8 8' 15 -0' 55 7.3 +0.7 -55 ft 9 8' 27 -0' 43 7.1 +0.6 +36 ft 10 8' 35 -0' 35 7.0 +0.4 +27 ft 11 8' 34 -0' 36 7.0 +0.5 +29 ft 12 8' 37 -0' 33 7.0 +0.4 -13 ft 13 8' 40 -0' 30 6.9 +0.4 -3 ft 14 8' 44 -0' 26 6.9 +0.3 -7 ft 15 8' 38 -0' 32 6.9 +0.4 0 ft 16 8' 31 -0' 39 7.0 +0.5 0 ft 17 8' 40 -0' 30 6.9 +0.4 +9 ft 18 9' 53 +0' 43 6.1 -0.5 +10 ft 19 8' 46 -0' 24 6.8 +0.3 -7 ft 20 8' 38 -0' 32 6.9 +0.4 -62 ft 21 9' 59 +0' 49 6.0 -0.5 -10 ft 22 10' 26 +1' 16 5.8 -0.8 +39 ft 23 10' 07 +0' 57 5.9 -0.6 +26 ft 24 11' 58 +2' 48 5.0 -1.5 +49 ft 25 10' 12 +1' 02 5.9 -0.7 -23 ft 26 11' 17 +2' 07 5.3 -1.2 +6 ft end 8' 47 -0' 23 6.8 +0.3 -16 ft Versus average of 9' 10 min/mile

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