Joy and Woe, but not too slow.

I finished my marathon a couple of hours ago and now back at my hotel killing some time before my ferry leaves to go back home tonight. This race turned out as expected to be healthy mix of woe and joy. First for the good news I PBed with a 3:03:06. The weather was almost perfect not a cloud in the sky with the temperature ranging from 3 to 15 degrees. The course was flat and beautiful in parts with heaps of spectators giving us lots of encouragement. Just a note about the people down in Miyazaki, they have been extraordinarily friendly and helpful I really love this place.Food is excellent too but that's a separate blog.

Now the bad news, I F*#"! up at the start of this race. When the gun cracked I headed off doing a loop of the stadium and just as we were about to go out to the open road I over heard two guys talking saying they were doing the half, I panicked and ran back to the start. I thought I was in the wrong starting line but when I got back to the start I asked a guy and he said that they, the half and full marathon, were starting together. Not only did I feel like a fool I had lost 4mins and 20 seconds.

Anyway I started making my way through the crowd clocking some good 1k splits but it wasn't until the 20k mark that I had caught up to the sub 3 runners. Even though I was passing people until the end, and I don't remember anyone passing me, I couldn't, in the end, make up this lost time.

Actually at the 35k mark I thought I could but the last 7k was run along the beach and over 4 bridges and my nemesis the wind really put the brakes on things. That last 5K was bloody hard and I only got through by swinging my arms like crazy pumping them to keep my legs going against the wind.

So I'm thinking that I may have been robbed of a sub 3 but it was mostly my own dam fault. I won't complain, although I feel a like a dill, I won't give excuses. I didn't get the sub 3 chip time and that is the end of it!

Still, as usual, I did get a lot out of this race. Now I'm fully confident I can go sub 3 and I know how to train to make it happen. During the 10K from 20 to 30 I felt the best and strongest I've ever felt during a marathon and I want to get that feeling again.

As for my preparation for this I didn't do a few things I said I would, like stop drinking during the build up, run 100k weeks for at least 8 weeks, get my weight down, body fat %, and lose my little gut. So I don't really deserve it, but I have some things to work on for next race.

Well, in balance I'm a happy fella. I still have a goal, I PBed and I did my best on the day. Can't ask more than that!

By the way if you think I'm going to stop blogging when I get this sub 3 you're wrong. I have a good 5 years in me yet and I fully intend to reach my potential.