This one was fun. No pressure going in to finish in any particular time; no need to feel hurried; I knew, in fact, that I had to take it easy because the next scheduled marathon is in 3 weeks. So I went in with the plan of running 7:30 miles. But I didn't need to be a clock watcher so I ran 2 miles then checked my time; if I was over 15 minutes I kept running; if I was under 15 minutes (which happened most of the time) I walked until I reached the 15 minute mark. That allowed for some nice recovery time in the middle of the marathon. But when I reached mile 22, even though I was right on 15 minutes I walked anyway. I was feeling tired and I didn't want to wear myself out or push too hard. So I finished the last 4 miles nice and easy.
We ran past a naval base, past the place where the Oregon, Santa Fe, and California Trails (of the old west days) converged, and past the Great Mall of the Great Plains. It was a mostly flat course and an overcast day, which helped keep us cool. The only mean trick the race organizers played on us was having us climb a hill to the finish line (!). But for a guy who was not concerned about time, that was no problem.
