Very nice run today at the Silicon Valley Marathon. Even faster than I expected, at least in the first 22 miles. Final time of 3:43h at 8:30 pace. Raimondo and I met downtown San Jose at 6:30; usual procedure pre-start and we took off. I went fast the first ten miles keeping an eye on the Garmin, I stayed at under 8 min/mile pace. That remained the same until the half marathon point, that I passed at 1:44h, not bad. At Los Gatos I met Cristina with Paolo, the dog, we enjoyed running together for half mile until the up hill behind the LG high school. In the mean time Raimondo was behind a little. Vasona Lake went quickly, I was still in good pace, keeping the average well under 8:10, closing the 20 miles mark at 2:43h at 8:11 pace.
At mile 22, I lost strengths on the legs, I did not have much more. The marathon route leaves the trail and gets in the San Jose roads, in Willow Glen. While some of the parts are in the shade, many were exposed, and I got very tired, with initial cramps, so I had to reduce the speed even more. While I had the endurance to run, I did not have the last 4 miles in the legs, so I had to get to the finish running around 10 min/mile. That made the finish in 3:43h. I was very happy for the time even if I had a 3:36-3:38 in the watch at mile 22. A nice local marathon, with good weather, not too hot, with a little of breathe that refreshed a bit. Cristina after the stop at LGHS, met us at the dog park in Campbell and at the finish line, taking pictures of both of us, for the all run. I also crossed the finish line with Paolo, totally confused on what was happening, but surely happy too. Raimondo finished in 4:05h, little disappointed he could not break the 4h mark. Next time ... we have to plan next year.
