I appreciated hearing your race report. Though I’m slower and a littlle older than you, I identified with it on several levels.

Like you, Disney was my 5th marathon. I had hoped for a breakthrough like you had, but it was not to be. I need to build a more consistent base.

Glad you had a great race. What’s next for you? I’m going for Vermont for the 3rd time.

Barry,

I’ve thought about the temp factor, and it could very well have played a
role. However, neither of my previous 2 marathons were particularly warm
(Manchester in November was in the 40’s at the start), so it’s hard to say
for sure. I think the biggest factor was mileage – I’ve accumulated a lot
since the Fall, and put in a number of double-run days leading up to
Disney. Running the 2 Fall marathons also helped a great deal – and with
two months off since Manchester I was feeling pretty fresh.

Pete

Thanks for the comment!

Pete

Chris,

Yeah, something clicked this time, and there are a number of factors that I
think came into play. I’m still not a high mileage marathoner (I’ve topped
50 miles in a week only one ever), but ran two in the Fall and then had 2
months off before Disney, which was a good amount of recovery. I think
running the earlier two helped lot. As far as next, I’d love to do Vermont
again (did it the past 2 years), but we’ve got a baby due in April and I’m
holding off on marathons until the Fall at the earliest. For the time
being, I’m going to focus on bettering my 5K PR and run more local races
this season.

Pete

Nicole,

Thanks for the comment! I think it did help to be from NH in those
conditions – once we got moving I felt fine. It was actually warmer than
most of my recent runs back home! We have a bay due in April, so my wife is
going through the same thing as you right now. She was “high risk” in her
previous pregnany, which was very hard. Smoother this time around, but
we’ve still got a few months to go (April due date). How you can do Disney
next year!

Pete