I'm finally feeling back to normal after a few ugly runs since the marathon. I think the poor runs were a mix of fatigue and the leg workout at my work's gym this past Monday. My legs haven't seen any weights since around 2005 and it showed all week. Despite my attempt to "go easy" I was waddling for a couple days and then just generally sore for a few more. You mix that with some hilly trails runs and it makes for a tough go. I walked toward the top of many uphills and sucking air at easy paces.

Today was sunny and warm. I went out with a little trepidation that I was going to repeat my performance from Friday but it didn't happen. After 4 miles I finally felt decent and even extended the run a couple times to enjoy the day. Around 9 miles in 80 minutes almost all of it on the trails.

I am still kicking around my marathon performance and what might have went wrong. I really feel my training was adequate for the performance. My speed was definitely there, shorter races predict at marathon time in the low 2:50s and I believe my endurance was there as well if the spectacular 23 miler I ran 3 weeks prior to the race was any indication. Everything just didn't come together on race day. Now this sounds like a poor excuse but I am leaning more and more towards what I ate both before and during the race as the culprit to me hitting the wall.

I'll save the details for what I should have eaten vs. what I did eat over the past few marathons for another day but I think it is the key to a better performance. I feel foolish for not reading into this more in the past. Understanding what I should eat and actually doing it is so much easier than running all those miles in training yet it can have just as big of an effect on race day. Why leave it to chance and just do what you think is right instead of doing what is right?