Flying Pig Down, Season Done

Just got off the plane from Cincinnati, OH fresh off of running the Flying Pig marathon. First, it didn't really dawn on me until I nearly started the race that I was running the Flying Pig marathon during the height of our swine flu hysteria. Happy to report that i didn't catch that (at least I hope i didn't).

With many apologies to the natives, the city of Cincinatti is not America at her finest. The city itself was dull, drab, and lacked character for the most part (with the exception of a nice village around mile 16). The 2 worst parts were the water (which was the worst i have ever tasted and i have to tell you that i am NOT very picky) and the smell. Everything in that city smelled bad. From the hotel and lobby all the way through the race, through the industrial part of town (aka the entire city), etc. We did run past a bread factory and that smelled like wonderbread. That was the only reprieve. Needless to say, what i lack in pickiness as it pertains to water, i more than make up for in the pickines related to smells.

All that complaining aside, the race was fairly well organized and fairly flat after the first 8 miles or so. It was no where near the most organized, friendly or any other characteristic people judge marathons on however. So the good reputation is very much overstated as far as i was concerned.

As for the race, i did well. I PR'd in fact. For the first 20 miles, my legs didn't feel particularly strong however. It was strange. I went for a 3 mile walk up some hills the day before and i think that had some ill affects. But at the end of the day, my training and strategy kicked in. In fact, the key to this race for me was consistency. My first mile was 7:11 and my last mile was 7:09.

I definitely felt slow the entire race. This is no doubt a result of a lack of half marathons in the last few months. I feel like next fall, i should be able to add a little more speed and maybe do well in Chicago. But doing Atlanta just 1 month before this race most certainly helped me on the last 10k. So hopefully i can train to get the best of both worlds next October.

On to biking season! Just 3 months until next running season!