Wahoo Yippee!

Austin Texas Marathon 3:46:36, pace 8:39. I was shooting for 3:45 and missed that by a minute or so, but I’m a mighty happy runner anyway. According to the preliminary results, I took first of 29 in the 65-69 old-farts age group. We’ll see if that holds up, but in any case I’ll be happy with the time because this is a very hilly (“challenging”) course. Total rise of about 300 feet, but lots of up and down getting there and back. I had hoped to make all of this year’s marathons under 3:45, but guess I’ll have to settle for 3:46 or less instead. Tsk. :-)

My thigh injury was a no-show. It warned me a couple of times on the uphill, so I held back a little and even walked more uphills than usual, but it didn’t really slow me down. Toward the end of the race I did notice a distinct pain in the left hip that got worse as I ran, but it wasn’t bad enough to slow me down either. More about that tomorrow. Weather was almost “chamber of commerce” perfect; shorts and long sleeves.

Eagle Momma and Sweet Pea were concerned about getting to the finish before they closed it, but they made it. Thanks to the Marathon organizers for allowing a little bit of grace.

More-complete results will be in tomorrow, and I’ll post again with lots more details. Now the partying is over; we three will sleep well tonight.