I've found myself thinking a lot about my debut marathon performance on Saturday and, after all, I'm pretty proud of it. First of all, it ranks up there with the best experiences of my life. It was very emotional. At some mile after 18, what I was doing finally dawned on me, and I had to choke back some tears. It was great to have family members and friends at the finish.
A few days have passed since the marathon, and the soreness of my muscles still lingers. My left foot, which I broke a few years ago, was very sore after the marathon and is still pretty sore today. This is starting to concern me. I'm debating whether I should resume running tomorrow or wait seven to ten days, as is the typical recommendation.
Having let my first marathon experience sink in, I'd like to continue running marathons, at least one per year. If possible, I'd like to run another one in the spring of 2008. The most important thing is maintaining marathon fitness. This can be done by running 25 to 30 miles per week, including a long run. Volume is simple. It's intensity that I need to experiment with. Tempo runs and speedwork are the challenges and essential to improving time. Had my muscles not cramped at mile 22 (I'm still trying to figure out whether this was due to my initial walk break), I think that I would have ran a 3:35-3:40 marathon. Maybe what's essential is more MRP miles.
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