Each & every marathon is a journey and an adventure. Seek it and you will find it

Sedona Trail marathon... how lonely

As I start the first mile and laboring with each breath I take, I gained an appreciation for high elevation running. Let me say, this was only 4500 ft of elevation. What am I going to do when or if I run the Leadville Trail marathon in Colorado. I know I will have to find a place in Chicago to do some altitude training.
Here is how it went.
Overall, this was a fun marathon for me. I had the attitude to begin with that this was not going to be a PR for me. I wanted the freedom to run without thinking about time or pace. Since this was my first trail marathon and my 3rd marathon in a row in 3 months, I decided to go with the 1 mile run and 1 min walk method. This method worked out well for me considering that it was at a higher elevation and very hilly. Lots of long ups and long declines. I did not get acclimated to the running until maybe mile 8 or so. This was about the time that we hit the trail from the street.

Just like any other marathons, I had my ups and my downs. The constant downhills did quite a number on both of my knees that by mile 24 they were in soo much pain. Otherwise, nothing else hurt at all. The new compression sock that I wore worked out perfectly and would recommend it highly...more on that later.

During the marathon I met some incredible people. The marathon in total had about 1500 particpant which out of those only about 200 did the marathon the rest did the half. So the it was lonely, not too much spectators on a trail marathon for sure. I think they organized it very well and had an aid station just about every mile marker.
I met John, an incredible guy who is now my inspiration. He has ran 274 marathon and have ran 184 consective marathons. Not sure if he said 1 each month or how. But he gave me some great tips on running an ultra also. I also met Meg who was there with her husband both have ran several ultras and gave me the inside scoop. John has his own website : http://www.squawpeak50.com/oasis2.htm

John and me with my new compression socks

In the end, I managed to finish at 4:45 with a smile on my face. The race was excellent and beauty around me was amazing.

More later....

For Pictures from Sedona here it is
http://picasaweb.google.com/runandcycle/SedonaMarathonTrip2009#