Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon 2008.
Finish Time: 3:49:56, Pace 26.2 @ 8:46.

It took me a few days to decide just what to say about my experience at the 2008 Lakefront Marathon. What I would normally be my primary focus was my Time, which was a full 5 minutes ahead of my original goal of 3:55. This was great, and I am quite pleased. It feels food to be under 4 hours at last.

Perhaps more surprising was that setting a new Marathon P.R. was one of the least memorable aspects of this race. It was a triumphant 26 miles, full of lessons learned, with just a dash of disaster. 

The most important lessons learned was that having a Pace Partner can make a Marathon a much more enjoyable experience. At a staring line of the Lakefront Marathon, I was lucky enough to meat up with two fellow runners, Michael and Gabe, both with more or less the same goal time as myself. After showing them my Garman Forerunner, and how the Virtual Running partner worked, Michael suggested that we run together. I was not to sure about this but did not object.

About a mile in, I realized that I had truly acquired a partner for the rest of the run. Michael and I clicked, and buy mile two we had exchanged running history's, and were planning out the next 24 miles. Around mile 4 we lost Gabe, but it was for the best because he was breathing pretty hard. I never did find out how he were he finished, but I am sure he did pretty well. I don't blame him, since we by than Michael and I had settled in at the a healthy 8:30 average pace, about 20 seconds faster per mile than the goal I was originally planning to run, this was the pace that we stayed locked to until about mile 23.

Somewhere around mile 23, I learned my the second Important lesson of the race. Don't skip aid stations, and GU, in the last few miles, just because your "Almost there". I learned this the hard way, when about half way though mile 25 I hit the wall like I have never hit it before. Michael tired to talk me thru it, but I just could not do it. I ended up walking for about 1/8th of a the last mile, costing me almost 4 minutes off my time. I finished with a respectable 3:49:56, Michael finished at 3:46:16. Even though we were in lockstep until the last mile.

Having  survived the run, and beating my goal time, 5 minutes cant complain. As a mater of fact I have to say this was with out a drought my best marathon yet.