Rochester Marathon: Brief Recap

Things I have learned from last weekend’s marathon:

#1 As a runner, thinking about running 8 miles is not mentally excruciating. Thinking about running 8 miles after you have already run 18 miles is apparently worthy of a short, 10-second-sob-while-running-fest. I would not recommend it, as crying while running makes it extremely hard to do either.

#2 I think two PowerBar energy gels while marathoning is my limit. Three makes me feel like I’ve had one too many pieces of cheesecake.

#3 I may have the ability to run while sleeping. I do not remember mile 23 at all. Like no recollection whatsoever. I did however feel surprisingly well-rested at the end of this particular marathon. Once I figure out how to hone this skill, I will be attempting to bottle, package, and sell it to all of you.

#4 A trophy is a trophy and second place is not the first loser when trophies are involved. Nevermind that there were only 18 people in my age group.

#5 Write your name on your race jersey. I did not do this. Alternately, see if you can have a catchy race number. I lucked out with 89, which people seemed to enjoy yelling even after I had already passed them.

All in all, the race went well: perfect weather, flat route, excellent volunteers, not to mention it was so small that I won second place in my age group and cut 13 minutes off my marathon time from May! Unfortunately, no rest for the weary: up next is Nike Women on October 18th!

2 down, 28 to go! I'll try to publish a more detailed race report, though I have so many post-its all over my room with blog ideas that maybe I should work on writing those.