Day 2,905 —Running the GO! 3:25:55 — with a PICTURE of a closed FLOWER #690

In 2012 my time was 3:31:54. I love that even though this was not my best marathon I still beat myself ten years ago which I had not really thought about until after the race. 

I have not run this long this fast probably since the last GO! Where I was a little faster 3:19:54, but last year was a lot different than this year. This year I have been managing to keep running, but I am not doing the distance nor the pace I have been able to manage in years past, so being able to pull off a sub-8-minute mile marathon is better than I expected. 

I was looking at my ranking through the run and I started in 14th place in my division and ended in 13th place. It did feel like that. Not a lot of people passed me. Looking at my times, I only gradually slowed down as the race progressed, completing my slowest mile on mile 26. 

By mile 24 my feet started hurting because I was just wearing, but I knew it would be over soon, so I kept pressing down. 

I stopped and took pictures, which was new for me. I got a few I like, but it was fun to be able to not care about time that much and stop off to the side and take a few shots. 

When I finished, I sat on a curb wondering where my family was and then my almost three-year-old daughter appeared and sat in my lap and gave me a big hug, so happy to see me.

This was my least prepared marathon ever and one of my best. Maybe, getting older has some benefits.