Des Moines Marathon - a Tardy report

I ran my second ever (and second Des Moines) marathon on Sunday 10/19/08. Again we had a lovely day, although it got a bit windy at the end. I enjoyed being a slow runner since it allowed me to play tour guide to some of our out of town guests.

I was on track at the 13.1 mile mark to be a minute or two faster than last year. Taking into consideration that I had a negative split last year, I expected that to actually end up being more like 5 minutes. Unfortunately, it was not to be. When I hit Grays Lake at mile 22, I wouldn't say I hit a wall or even "THE WALL" but my legs did become really, really heavy. I kept going but the walking portions became more frequent and a bit longer. I was pooped. So, I ended up finishing slightly slower than last year, by about 30 seconds. How odd is that.

I thought I might have been making some progress with running speed, but in this endeavor it appears not. I'd better get back on that.

I will run another marathon next year. Perhaps I will venture out of the Des Moines area. I have an invitation to run the Lewis & Clark Marathon in 9/09.