OD Marathon...PR time

My very first marathon was the OD Marathon in 2012. I have trained very hard for it and was very excited to run it. And than I got sick that very week. A day before the marathon I did my 2 mile shakeout run while running a fever, and I thought I was going to pass out. Not looking good. So I medicated, hydrated and the next morning I felt OK. I took some extra medicine and the first 10-12 miles went well. I was running at a good pace. That is when the nightmare scenario occurred. Around mile 13 I think my fever returned and I was bonking hard. Around mile 15 my IT band flamed up with sharp pains shooting through my knee. I still finished with the combination of walking/running but it was awful, painful and not pleasant at all.


Fast forward to 2013, same place and same time. My wife and I are training for the North Face 50K so this marathon is just a "training" run for us. We did another unofficial training marathon 2 weeks ago, and while I felt fine she was struggling. This morning we both felt good and were ready to run. It was a bit chilly with temperatures in the mid 30s, but it was sunny so not too bad. It was not too windy especially comparing to the wind last year.
We ran together at a pretty decent pace, but every once in a while she kept pushing ahead of me. I kept asking, "why are you running so fast". But she was feeling good and didn't this that she was speeding up (she was!). Around mile 8 I told her to just go ahead if she wanted to. I kept a steady pace. I was feeling pretty good. Once I got past the 15 mile marker I started to speed up and slowly ticked the miles off. I really opened it up with 3 miles to go and ran into the finish like with the PR of 4:06. That is 15 minutes faster than my previous marathon! I was very happy with my time, but at the same time I felt silly for not running with my wife who finished with her best time of 3:59, knocking of about 15 min or so from her time!
Thinking back, I am pretty sure it was all mental in my head. I was afraid that the wind that was picking up at one point time was going to tire me down. I was afraid of that mile 12-16. Flashbacks of last year lingered in my head with IT pain and struggling to finish. But hey, every race is a learning experience and there will be many more to come.

Next up is the Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke, VA on April 20. That race scares me! But one thing at the time. Now I have to look forward to my 50 mile week.

Gear and Nutrition:
Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3
Hydration Pack: Nathan Endurance Pack
Pant: Salomon Wind Breaker Pants
Shirt: Nike Wool Crew with Long sleeve shirt under

For nutrition and hydration I was using only Tailwind for fuel and some plain water along the way. Due to my previous experience with this race I grabbed few pieces of banana along the way at mile 16 and 18. Tailwind has been working pretty good so far in training and now in the race.