2009 Capital City Marathon

I know, I know, why don't I give it a rest??? Well it has been 2 weeks since my last marathon :) and I looked at http://www.marathonguide.com/ last week and noticed that there was a marathon Sunday May 17th, 2009 in Olympia, Washington called the Capital City Marathon and so I signed up last Wednesday.

I still had those 2 small blisters that weren't healed yet but I used some fabric band aids and only ran 6 miles on Friday and took the rest of the night and Saturday off from exercise. This time I also wore a cycle skull cap instead of a hat and it worked really well to use as a towel for my face and it was easier to hold when it got a little warm. I also used a running belt (without water holders) instead of stuffing things in my pockets. I took my iPhone for tunes which they allowed headphones at the last minute so that really helped for the lonely streets. My legs were tired of course but there were no cramps which I was very happy about and no new blisters and the other ones didn't get worse. I made sure my socks were 100% synthetic and had no cotton this time, bandaged my blisters and lubed my toes. Plus I used Superfeet insoles.

My time was 3:33.51 which was 14 minutes faster than the last time and I came in 48th overall and 15th in my category which I'm very happy about for my second marathon.

My wife was able to be there to cheer me on so she took a couple of videos:

2009 Tacoma City Marathon

It's Sunday May 3rd and I just finished the 2009 Tacoma City Marathon and what an experience it was for my first organized marathon. I completed the full 26.2 miles in 3:47. My goal was 4 hours at least and so I made it!!! My half marathon time was 1:41 so if I would have been able to keep that pace I could have come in at 3:22. Next time :) My darn calf and hams started to tighten after mile 19 so I had to change strides which slowed me down from a 7.8mph average the first half to 6.0mph the second half.

Things I did right: Light tight fitting shirt to keep friction to a minimum. Bandaids over the nipples just in case the shirt did rub (be sure to test them for being sweat proof). Clipped my toenails and lubed my feet and toes. Didn't bring a water belt or pack (They provided plenty of water and gel). I ate a good carb meal the night before, drank lots of water. In the morning I had my normal berries and Yogurt and added a banana instead of walnuts. I heard you don't want too much fat for breakfast before a run.

Things for next time: Use different socks (I just got one small blood blister on the side of my foot and one small blister on the side of my big toe on the other foot). Not ride my bike 50 miles a few days before running (I don't know what I was thinking there).

I sure did have fun, I would always thank the police at each intersection and encourage the volunteers and make comments to the people along the road cheering us on. They would say, "you don't look tired...". I would say, please come join us.... There response, "ya right...".