Message posted by: john m.

My wife an I live in Vermont. This has been a particularly snowy

winter and as I age, it just seems colder as I get older. The past four years we have trained over the winter and have done a “winter”

Ironman in warmer climates but decided to sit this “winter” Ironman out. A winter marathon and half iron distance race were substituted

to keep us busy during the coldest and darkest months.

There seems to be a marathon in Florida about every weekend January-March so we took out the map and the dart landed on Sarasota. The website map was appealing and the weather seemed right. Warm but not hot, just right for northern dwellers.

The race was this past Sunday, 2-15, so we traveled on Thursday. Friday was a great day skimming past big ass alligators at Myakka

River State Park in a canoe built for two with my best friend.

Saturday was a three mile get the kinks out jog, race registration/expo and a visit to the Mote Aquarium.

The race consists of the marathon with about 400 participants and a half with a much larger field. Race start time is at 6am and it was pretty dark for an hour plus but there was plenty of room by mile two and the dark was not an issue. There were a number of lighted time clocks for pace checks.

Many coastal races advertise themselves as being run along the shores when in fact there are only a few glimpses of water. The Sarasota Marathon is really the race with a view and much of the course is along Sarasota Bay. The bridge from the mainland to Lido Key is spectacular, is crossed out and back and is the only sort of a hill on the course.

In preparation I had trained quite seriously with a goal of 3:45 and hopes of a little faster. My long runs were 15,18, three 20 milers and a Sat/Sun 10/10 miler with the fastest 20 miler at an 8:20 pace.

ALL THESE RUNS WERE ON THE TREADMILL. I hate cold/slippery running!

My race plan was simple; run 8:30 pace for 26.2 miles. The implementation of the plan was near perfection. At mile 20 I was 2:48 which is 2 minutes fast and the trip to the pota-potty had me at mile 20 at 2:50, perfect! Then reality set in and the last 10K was a 61 minute run/limp and a 3:51 finish. 7/30 in 55-59 AG and I was OK with that. Running on a treadmill is just easier than real-life running.

And my wife you may ask, well she told me she was going to run 3:20 and she is ALWAYS right. Dam if she wasn’t the First Woman Overall.

She was pretty happy, me too.

This was a very nice small marathon. The course was great and all my expectations were met. Great volunteers, good organization but where was Suzanne from Tampa? I think this was #64, 36 to go.

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