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Oh THAT'S my pace!

"They" say that you can tell how brutal a race is by how long it takes you to decide you're going to do another one.  Now "they" are talking about ultra marathons, but isn't anything past 26.22 miles considered an ultra?  ("They" is the Trail Runner Nation podcast)  If we're going by that logic, I've actually never run a marathon.  I've now run eight ultras, including seven 26.5(ish) mile races and a 50K.
So, yes, I'm already thinking about my next marathon.  I'm using what worked and didn't work from Houston to start planning for next year.  I don't yet know which marathon(s) I'll run in the "2017 season," but I'm sure the TNT runners will have some sort of say in it.  As I outlined in Almost...Almost, Terri's pace plan along with Jason's tweaks and Ryan's steadfastness worked.  The thing is, it worked for a 26.22 mile course, not 26.5.
Courses are marked for the shortest possible distance.  That's why most professionally marked (or just very well done) 5ks will have the runners finishing with 3.13 or 3.15 miles instead of 3.11.  Courses are marked as if someone is running solo and taking the shortest possible line through the course by hugging the corners and never deviating from that course.  In larger races, there are more people to get "in your way."  Add hydration stops and the weaving and dodging that inevitably comes with them and you start to add more and more distance to your race.
Since May, I've been training to run a 4 hour marathon.  That's a 9:10 pace.  Realistically, I know that I need to train for a 9:01 pace.  That starts... soon.  Not today.  I've earned some time off I think.  The Houston Marathon was the last race of my "2016 season" and now I'm going to dial back the miles, get ready for my PT test, and add more strength training and "other" stuff back in.

That being said, here's my race/volunteer schedule for the next few months (with links to registration if you want to join me!)
January 28: Shannon Trail Series Race 2 I'll be out there volunteering (San Angelo State Park)
February 11: Polar Bear Run 5k Goodfellow Air Force Base
February 12: Be My Valentine Run 5k Running with Mila (San Antonio)
February 18: Shannon Trail Series Race 3 Again, I'll be out there volunteering
March 12: Crazy Desert Trail Race I'll [robably just do the 5k but they're going to have all the way up to a 100k!

I hope to see you guys out there and I'll have to get a camera to take as many pics as I can at the races I'm volunteering for!


BTW, Anne made this great video of me struggle facing toward the end of Houston.  Thanks for the support!




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