Athens Classic Marathon

What a wonderful run this was!  It was a tough one though and I must say I was extremely disappointed with my finish time of 6:20.  The course was very deceptive because even though at least half of it was uphill, it really didn't feel like it was uphill.  But I did notice that the uphill section seemed to slow me down considerably.  But more than likely it was just the air temperature that was slowing me down.  It was around 75 degrees.  The wind came up around mile 20 and the last 6 miles or so were either flat or slightly downhill.  So at that point I had kind of a second wind and was able to run faster than I normally run during any marathon.  But certainly not fast enough to make up for my slow speed in the first half.  But for me, it isn't about having some record breaking speed.  I just want to finish before the cutoff time, collect my medal, and enjoy myself.  The course was amazing and the best part was just knowing that I was running the original marathon from Marathon, Greece to the stadium in Athens.  The time limit for the race was 8 hours so there was never any question that I would finish. 

Acropolis Sunrise

How can you possibly improve upon running in the shadow of the Acropolis?