Marathon 2010 - Windermere

I did it. I ran another marathon. I took a break last year from training for any big races because I didn't want to injure my knee for one and I was letting Mike do his training for the Ironman. Well, it was time to try to get a better PR. But every race is so different. There are so many different factors, the course, the weather, the temperature, you're health, injuries. But this time I knew I had to at least do better than the last one 2 years ago. Besides, I'm a more experienced runner now. My first one the goal was to just finish. This one I was going to push myself a little more and I did it.

It was a great day for a race. There were quite a few of us racing this time. Mike ran again. My brother-in-law, Dustin was also racing. And Mike's parents came up from Oregon to walk it. They are truly amazing that even in their 60's they will train faithfully for marathons. The sun was shining and it was beautiful day. The only problem was that it was a little too warm - in the 70's. I had been use to training in 40 and 50 degree weather so I needed to stay hydrated. I did pretty well up until mile 16 and then I started to lose steam. I also had stomach cramps - not a good thing. I had to walk on and off mainly for the next 10 miles because I felt dehydrated. When I stopped at the water stations one cup of water I drank and the other I dumped over me to cool off.

I have to say that the Winderemer race is a a good one. It's all on the Centennial Trail which is right along the Spokane River. It's a beautiful course and their is some shade along the way. I wish that there were a few more potties though. After drinking all that water I needed to stop a lot. Just think what my time could have been had I not had to stop. There were also more hills than I thought there would be, but it was doable I was so excited to get to the finish line and see my family. I did it in 4 hours and 15 minutes. Beating my previous time by 13 minutes. I would have liked to have done better but I was just proud of myself for doing it again and improving my time.

It was a great accomplishment again. The feeling never gets old of crossing the finish line after running 26.2 miles - it's always emotional and exhilerating. I'm sure there will be another one for me. I gotta go for three now.