Whidbey Island Marathon

I skipped my 5k Friday night.  I was planning a 25-30 mile training run over the weekend in preparation for my 50k next week, so I thought it might be more fun and make more sense to run a marathon instead.  (I'm not very good at tapering.)

Thursday night I started looking for marathons in the area.  And since there were no marathons near me, I started looking for any marathons within driving distance.  And since "within driving distance" is relative for a last minute weekend trip, I figured the Whidbey Island Marathon (400 miles away) was the perfect choice - so I signed up and packed my bags.  I had never been to any of the islands in the Puget Sound, so I was excited.

I had only a few goals for the race:
1. Take some good photos.
2. Listen to my body - not my watch or Garmin. (I left my watch and Garmin at the hotel.)
3. Test out a new pair of shoes.
4. Don't hurt myself.
5. See a whale.

It was cold at the start, but the spectacular scenery was worth the pre-race shivers.  I didn't know much about the course, but the elevation chart on the website gave me a heads-up that there might be a hill or two.

It was also nice to see Eric and Michelle at the start.  They're on my short list of running heroes.

Deception Pass - near start line

Part of my pre-race ritual is interpretive dance,
though it's gennerally not interpreted as dance.
(Really, I'm graceful.)

Chatting with Michelle

Start of the race

Skagit Bay

View from the course

This is the last section of a climb
that lasted about 2 miles

U-S-A!   U-S-A!

The lei is from around mile 4 

Oak Harbor

Crossing the finish line.
I had fans I didn't even know existed.

Sadie's still mad that she didn't get to run

The race went well.  Other than a few minutes around mile 12 when I thought I had bonked, I felt good most of the way.  I think I accomplished what I set out to accomplish.

1. Take some good photos?
success
2. Listen to my body, not my watch or Garmin?
success
3. Test out a new pair of shoes?
success
4. Don't hurt myself?
success
5. See a whale?
bald eagle?

I even pulled a 15-minute PR out of it with a time of 3:34:00 (results).  Maybe one of these days I'll find a flat course and see how fast I can run a marathon.  Yeah, it would be nice to have a marathon excuse for a Boston trip...

Keep running!

-Scott