Marathon number 4 was Cincinnati's Flying Pig on May 14, 2000. The marathon began in the low 50's with temperatures creeping up into the mid-60's. It was a great day to run. I had dreams of running 3:15. I ran the first 10K in 45:28. This is clock time. I reached the half at 1:35:21, 20 miles in 2:27:49, but crashed to 10-11 minute miles in the last 5K and finished at 3:28:30. My chip time was 3:27:56. This works out to pace of 7:15 for the first 10K, 7:14 from 10K to the half, 7:36 from half to 20 miles, and 10:07 from 20 miles to the end. The problem was the last 3 miles. I have many thoughts on strategy, most of which involve getting older and setting my goal time higher. I'm not sure that I have a 3:15 in me, but I hope to have a 3:20.

We (Rachael, the kids and I) had a great time in Cincinnatti. We stayed in the Embassy Suites in Covington, Kentucky with a wonderful view across the Ohio river of downtown Cincinatti. We had a picnic in Eden park on Saturday and walked along the river Saturday evening.

Here is a plot of the number of finishers per minute vs. pace at the Flying Pig. My unadjusted pace was 7.95 minutes/mile