12 things: Final thoughts
When I posted my dailymile workout for Saturday’s Richmond Marathon (my “recap” is here), I said I’d let hindsight tell the story about the race. I’m pretty sure, though, that I’ll never have a story for how things unfolded.
So for this month’s 12 things, I thought it would be good to recap parts of the race and weekend with a list. I’m not going to dwell on the race too much, so this is sort of my way to put closure on that day.
1. Before the race, I mentioned how great the support is in this race. The words of encouragement after 16 miles or so really kept me going. I can’t even begin to explain how close I was to a DNF when it was convenient to do so before mile 19.
2. I kept quiet last week about fighting off a cold. I never felt sick, but by Friday I started losing my voice. I’m sure the distraction of that didn’t help things last week, but it’s certainly not what made things completely fall apart.
3. This weekend was great for Scott and I to meet several #RunChat supporters and others who came down from New York.
4. I’ll probably never look at my mile splits.
5. The downhill finish that Richmond is known for is now even more downhill. It’s my only complaint about the course. It is not kind on the legs after 26 miles.
6. I saw my friend Jeremy just after 25 miles. He ran a quarter mile or so with me, and it was then that I just started spitting out words and finding myself happy with finishing marathon No. 4. Thank you, Jeremy.
7. It was great to see my sister Heather beaming after her first half marathon. She loved it so much she signed up for the Shamrock Half in March.
8. I’m about 95% sure that I’m going to take part in the Richmond Marathon weekend next year … in the half marathon.
9. Thanks to the guys handing out beer around mile 23. And to the lady from Curves handing out lemonade around mile 25.
10. The bag checkout was really bad. It was uphill, nearly two blocks from the finish, complete with a line that I heard was a 45-minute wait. I ended up waiting to get my bag until after hanging out on Browns Island for a couple of hours. I am confident Sportsbackers will handle that situation differently next year.
11. Whether it was something in training that led to my performance or if it just happened to be a really bad day, I’m not setting a time goal for a race so far ahead of time again.
12. As I stated in my race post, I’m a marathoner for the 4th time. I can dig for clues about what went wrong and I’ll probably never figure it out. I’ve already spent enough time talking and thinking about the Richmond Marathon, so it’s time to move along. As soon as my quads let me.
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Congrats David on #4 - Hope to meetup with the #runchat team at some point! (Shamrock) - Enjoyed your recaps and outlook. You should be an official ambassador for Richmond! One of the things I love and hate about running is the unknown on race day…but that is what keeps me coming back for more. Take care and Happy Running!
Congrats on number 4. You should be proud. Always great to see you and I agree with you about that downhill. It was MCM in reverse lol. See you in March
Thanks, David! It was great to see you out there, and you have just the right perspective on things. (And that downhill finish was a killer!)
Congrats on sticking with it when things got tough.
#4 - I’ve never bothered with my marathon splits.
#11 - I always wait to make a goal until after my 20 miler, which for me hasn’t really worked so well yet, but I keep repeating that habit.
I think this was a good closure post! It’s healthy to hammer it out if it’s on your mind.
Congrats on your 4th! I love seeing the medals people get…inspires me to get out there and train for the same races! And that is horrible about the bag check…poor planning!
The finish area was new this year, which was a tremendous upgrade. One thing with the bag check is that it was cold at the start — low 30s — so there may have been more people checking bags than usual. They’ll fix it, I’m sure.
I agree that the downhill finish was ridiculous. My legs were definitely screaming, “you’ve got to be kidding me!” Congrats on finishing another marathon. I look forward to regaling my grandchildren with stories of my races, good AND bad (“And this medal is from the 2012 Richmond marathon…oh boy, did I learn a lot from that race!…)
Congrats again on #4. Those stairs were killer to bag check
I’m sure they will figure something better out next year!