NYC afterthoughts...

Here is a ton of stuff concerning the NYC marathon. First, another quick recap about the big race. Second, Ryan Hall updated his blog talking about his disappointing 4th place finish. Next, article about women's winner Derartu Tulu - not very comfortable in the spotlight. What will Meb run next year? Boston or London? Sounds like winning Boston is pretty high on his priority list! Geb is shooting for the world record next year in Dubai. Interesting article talking about if Meb is truly "American enough". Come on, he is an American citizen, and he never even started training/racing competitively until he was in the U.S. I think people look for anything to criticize these days. Great interview with the winners of the NYC marathon, and finally Meb reads the Top 10 on Letterman last night!



Last night, decided to do a longer run. Was feeling pretty good, so strapped on my shoes in the evening and went at it. Wanted to do a more challenging loop, so did my Glen Carbon/Edwardsville loop which is pretty hilly. Weather was nice - 50's, cool and windy. Kind of a bummer that trail runs won't happen much in the week now that it gets dark so early. Started out feeling pretty good and was maintaining decent pace. Hit the dreaded hills of Meridian Rd. but worked through ok and never really lost much pace there. Got through 5 ok, but started feeling nagging quad and calf pains, so just tried to work through it. Made it to downtown Edwardsville and was running on the sidewalks which were thoroughly covered with leaves, making me feel sort of uncomfortable since I couldn't see any potholes/weird cracks. Stopped at Jared's house since I literally pass it on my route, said hi for a few minutes, then took off. Not the best decision, as my legs started to cramp up from stopping and starting. Made it through 11 miles, before I threw in the towel. Was getting cold, and was feeling better and could have kept going but was just mentally fried and wanted to be done. Last mile was my fastest split, and felt really easy. Stretched and took it easy the rest of the evening. Total mileage: 11 miles - splits were: (will update later, avg. was 7:43 I think)

Signed up for a 5K this weekend, since Tim was in town and he wanted to race. This is a local race at SIUE, and I believe it is the same trek as Mud Mountain which we did in July. Will be ready to get my revenge from my earlier loss this year ;)