DETROIT MARATHON REFLECTIONS

The bonfire after the race on Sunday. Many beers, and Jell-O shots, were had. Too many... but I earned them!

Well, it's been a week now and I've had a lot of time to reflect on my experience in Detroit. Overall it was a really fun trip and I actually enjoyed the race quite a bit. I will say it was my favorite marathon that I have done when comparing Portland, Vancouver, and Detroit. They all have their strengths and weaknesses but overall Detroit's course is really great. It kind of makes me sad about the Portland Marathon... there is so much more potential there. The course is still decent and the support and organization are great... but man, how good could it be if they actually tried to feature the city like most other races do?

A lot of people may see my 4:21 and assume I walked quite a bit. The reason I can still hold my head up very high after this race is that I ran the vast majority of it. All that extra time was not walking, most of it was stopping to stretch. So I'd bet I ran at least 25 miles, if not more. I didn't walk much at all, a couple hills and prolonged water stations yes, but most of the time I was at least shuffling along at a jogging pace. So those 12 minute miles consisted of a 10:00/mile pace with 2 minutes of stretching. I think the race would have been a lot more frustrating if I actually had to walk it in, which I was prepared to do.

What's next? Well, I'm done with marathons for a while. Probably until Portland next year. Training during the winter for a spring marathon just sucks. I'd slogged through it for Vancouver, BC that one year but waking up early on a Saturday to run 18 miles in the rain is not the best. Plus, it will be nice to just concentrate on lower mileage and running faster. Give my body somewhat of a break before I do it all over again. I haven't fallen in love with the marathon distance but I do like the challenge. I like running with PMC in the summer. So pretty much nothing has changed!

Apparently we both decided to shoot him in the head.

My next race will be a half marathon Thanksgiving Weekend. The Hot Buttered Run Half Marathon. I did the 12k of this event way back in 2012 and have wanted to run it again. I was hoping to run the 12k, since I could actually still PR that, but they removed it in favor of the half marathon. Oh well. It'll be interesting to run a half marathon now that I actually have the legs for it. Not counting Bald Peak, my last half marathon was Rock n' Roll Portland and I still wasn't quite in half shape at the time. Hopefully after I take two weeks off (currently one week into that) my legs will be healed up and I can get a good time.

Also, a big thanks to Katie, Jerry, and the kids for being excellent hosts!