Planned rest day. Wanted to relax after this race so I'll take a couple off. Legs are pretty sore though so running would be hard. I guess that's what happens when you cramp up at mile 4 and then keep pushing for 22 more miles. Did some comparison from Ojai marathon to the Modesto marathon. Keep in mind Modesto is basically pancake flat but had perfect cool conditions and Ojai has some downhill but had really humid, sticky conditions. At Modesto I felt so in the groove for the first 17 miles then ok through 21 and really bad the last 4 for sure. At Ojai I never felt smooth or in any groove. It was a total grind but even during the last mile when I was struggling I didn't feel as awful as I did the last 4 miles at Modesto when my stomach was cramping and I was dry heaving and needed to throw up.
Through the first 13 miles I was only 3 seconds faster at Ojai and after 14 miles my time was exactly the same at both races. And the bulk of the elevation loss is all in the first 12 miles. Through mile 20 I was 43 seconds faster at Ojai Through mile 26 I was 1:34 and the final difference was 1:54 faster at Ojai So in review if I could run a race where I could feel good like at Modesto but not get sick and then grind out the finish like at Ojai... then maybe I'd run a race where I'd be totally happy with the results. Because things just never felt good at Ojai I never could use the downhill to really aid my time... otherwise I think through 20 miles I would have been 2-3 mins faster instead of 43 seconds. I guess you can second guess things forever but this is kind of my review.
| 