Navarino Trail Marathon

26.2 Miles 2:57:36 6:47 average per mile
2nd Overall 1st Age Group
8:00 am) low 40's Sunny/Windy
New PR for Trail marathon. I never thought today I would break
3 hours.I was thinking maybe 3:05 or so. I knew from the start
I would not win. The first place finisher went out like a mad
man. At mile 1 I already lost sight of him. I was comfortable
in 2nd and it stayed that way the rest of the race. I ran 1:29
or so for the first of two loops. So I new in my mind I had a
chance of sub 3.

I started the second loop feeling good but my splits seemed a
bit slower. By mile 18 I was still holding my own and decided
I was going for sub 3. I had nothing else to motivate me. I
knew first was out and I had a nice lead on the 3rd place
finisher. I pushed on. I never felt like I hit the wall at all.
The last few miles are the toughest part of the course with the
sand and hills and I was still running strong. I even had my
fastest split at mile 24.

I finished about 3-4 minutes behind the winner. He was more
than 5 minutes ahead of me at the half. I believe he turned an
ankle or something as my friend Alicia said he was limping
afterwards. He came down from Upper Michigan and is 29 years
old. So at least he was 10 years younger than me makes me feel
a little bit better.

Afterwards had a nice lunch with Jeff & Alicia. They served
Bison & Elk burgers. I had to try the Elk burger since I have
never had one. It was very good.

In the picture above is the finisher medal actually it's made
out of wood. It's pretty neat. I like it because it's different
from all the others that I have.

I feel pretty good so far I'm sure I will get sore and stiff
tomorrow or the next day. I will try and run tomorrow just an
easy shake out run.

Up next is my first Ultra of the year May 8th. I'm kind of
nervous because have not got in the long runs like I would have
liked. Today was a good long run at least.

Final note I ran in my New Balance MT100 shoes today and they
were awesome I love them. They really helped me especially in
the sandy sections. I might wear them for my 50 miler. My only
concern would be how would my feet hold up. They don't have
a lot of support or cushioning and the trail will be more rugged
than the one I ran today.