Cleveland Marathon - Vengeance

You know how they say vengeance is a dish best served cold?  Well, today it was hot, but I finally got mine! 

Going into this race I had so many things not go the way I had wanted them to go the last 6 weeks leading up to this race, but I tried to keep a positive spin on it.  Stepping up to the line with aches and pains for a marathon only means one thing, more severe aches and pains, but the thing was I had run so much more than ever before and a friend had said "even on a bad day, don't you think we can still run 3:40?"  Well, hell I paid for this marathon and even if it was a bad day and it could have been a hobbling, cramping walking for hours to the finish bad day, I was going to at least step up and give it a shot. 

As I reflect on the morning's marathon madness, I realize this was in fact the least painful marathon I have ever run, not to say it wasn't without pain because my feet hurt (ouchie!!!) and although I started just ahead of the 4 hour pacer today, I discovered I can run a 3:40 on a not-so great day.  Not to say I had a bad race, or that I didn't give it all I had because I did, I really did.

My marathon plan had no set goal time.  I could have run anywhere from a PR to a PW (personal worst).  I just wanted to make sure I did not fall apart the second half.  The short of it is I ran a 1:49:10 first half and a 1:50:51 second half for a 3:40:01 (Philadelphia I ran a 1:48:21 and a 1:51:31).  It was the most evenly split marathon I have ever run, but part of me wants to kick my own ass for cutting it so close, but most of me knows I ran the best I could, but for the love of God did I really have to make it that tight?  Again.

Needless to say after running a 1:50:xx and a 1:59:xx at Cleveland in 2008 I got my revenge today!