Oktoberfest -Spring Lake Marathon R.R.

This past February I ran Last Chance for Boston and missed my BQ by 31 seconds. Initally, I was very disappointed, but then regrouped, and following Rhondda's suggestion, I looked at running Marquette --which would have been run prior to Boston registration. Looking back, I know I didn't give myself enough time to recover. I began training again, and got injured. I spent most of April and May in PT, so I pretty much decided Marquette was out --at least to try to BQ.



Plan B: Step back, pick a marathon, and simply run "for fun". Which, after the heat of this past summer, was a great decision. I didn't want to pressure myself into a time. I needed to simply enjoy a marathon and step back to where I felt it was an accomplishment to cross the finish line --whenever I got there. So, I chose the Spring Lake, Oktoberfest, Marathon. Spring Lake is just 40 minutes from my house, so an easy drive without hotel and other costs. It's located just north of Grand Haven along the lakeshore -so some decent scenery. Very small --probably no more than 200, at best, marathoners. (no official results on line yet.)



The marathon was yesterday --and wow, I couldn't have asked for better weather. Unbelievable after the heat I felt I ran every single training run in. It was around 50 at the start and 60 at the finish. Excellent!



I'll spare you the nitty gritty details, but I'll just sum it up by stating that I ran the first 17 miles in a 9mm pace --which I was thrilled with. There are more hills between miles 18- 23, not to mention I'm always quite tired at this point, so I fell off pace. Not bad though. I really felt pretty decent this whole marathon, and today, I feel better than I've felt after my other 6 marathons.



So, final "I'm going to enjoy this marathon and be happy to finish" time: 4:04.03. It's 13 minutes slower than my Last Chance marathon, but none the less, I was very content to even have come that close to 4.00.



This was a great marathon, nice course, nice scenery, ok aid stations, but very little crowd support. OK, virtually none. I'm not sure why, perhaps b/c it's only the 3rd year, or maybe b/c it's not promoted much. But, that doesn't bother me too much. Spectators are nice, but I can make do. If I had needed a larger marathon I would have stayed put and run Grand Rapids again. That too is a great marathon, but since I've run it the last 2 years, I just wanted a different one. GR is a good one to race, Spring Lake is a good one to run.



Best to all of you who have fall marathons coming up! I hope your weather is as perfect as mine was.

Gail

Sounds perfect to me! Great job!

50 at the start and 60 at the finish sounds perfect - good job on the MARATHON!

Great job!

Very nice job, Gail. I like your strategy of running an easy marathon and yet you did quite well. Congrats on a good plan and execution.

Funny to just read this. I was looking for the '11 results about 10 minutes ago, and they don't seem to be posted yet. I had a few friends running.

Congrats on a nice race. Maybe I'll see you in GR.

Congrats Gail on an excellent race. Sounds like a good one, and it is great to hear from you.

Congrats!

It sounds like you loved every step of it! Congratulations!

Sounds like a successful race. Congrats

Sounds like you had a great experience...well done!

Great job. You had fun and that's what matters most. Congrats.

Congrats on a great race Gail! You feeling the best you have felt after a marathon must be a mighty good feeling!