marathon

so, i ran a marathon yesterday down in santa cruz. well, aptos if you want to get technical, which is just south-east of santa cruz.
natalie and i got up at 4:45 and drove down, i got us lost on the way, and got there at about 7:15. the race started at 8:00

it's a beautiful course that winds up through the redwoods for a little over twelve miles and 2500 vertical feet, then dips down to the turnaround, and comes back along the same route.
i felt really good going out; strong, relaxed, and pretty happy on the hills. there are two major climbs, from mile 5 to 6, and another from 11 to 12. the second hill is steep enough that i had to walk parts of it.

i was in ninth place at the turnaround, much to my surprise, and looking forward to 12+ miles of downhill back to the finish.

at about mile 16 it all fell apart; i hadn't done any training running downhill, and my legs just couldn't take it. i started cramping, and from mile 21 to the finish was pretty much a death march.

i got passed by a ton of people, and had to walk on some of the steeper downhill sections. even a caffeinated gu, which i had been counting on to get me through the last few miles, didn't help. it was ugly.

i caught up to natalie about half a mile from the finish (she was out for a run too) and limped into the finish at 3:55:08.

as painful as the last half of the race was, overall it was fun, and i still finished 35 minutes faster than my previous marathon, which was on pavement and had only a few hills, so it's nice to see that improvement.

after the race we went down to the beach so i could soak my legs in the ocean for a bit, and then we went to the boardwalk and rode roller coasters, which was a blast.