Zoot Shoes and the El Paso Marathon

This off-season I had set my goals to work on my run fitness and get in some great marathon training in an effort to run a sub-three hour marathon. Things were actually looking quite good at the Tucson Half-Marathon were I was able to run a sub 1:26. However, things started to unravel a few weeks later as I made the cardinal overtraining sin and tried to train like a 20 year old rather than someone who is knocking on the door of 40. However, even though my goal marathon at the P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix was a bit of a disaster I was able to redeem myself a bit this past weekend at the El Paso Marathon.

Heading into the El Paso Marathon I approached my training with the knowledge of the fact that I had a great base but needed to allow my legs to rest and it would be better to be undertrained rather than overtrained. I also knew that El Paso was probably the wrong course for running a sub three hour race. I grew up in El Paso and I remember the hills quite well. However, I was more concerned about running a strong marathon where my legs felt smooth and I would let the results come as they may. The El Paso Marathon is a fairly small event that is run with a half-marathon as well as a 5K. The half and the full marathon start together and follow the same course for the first 8 miles. This was nice because there were about 1000 runners in the half and only about 300 doing the full. So for the first 8 miles we had plenty of company. However, at times, the last 16 miles could get a bit lonely (thank god for the i-pod shuffle!). The first 4 miles of the course were the hilliest and then the course was downhill for 2 miles and slightly uphill to flat for the remainder of the course until the last 3-4 miles which were flat to slightly downhill. Overall a pretty nice course until I was greeted with the famous El Paso winds. Unfortunately, the last 10 miles was right smack in the face of a headwind. At times the gusts were so strong that it would nearly stop you dead in your tracks. Well, I already knew that a sub three hour race was long gone but decided a PR could be a possibility at the half way mark (3:09) however once we hit these winds I was really just hoping to finish strong. Ultimately a 3:18 on the day, not a great time but given the course and conditions a great effort. The results led to an 9th place overall and 1st place 35-39. Not bad for a swimmer!!

The other positive was I found myself a new great pair of marathon racing shoes. The Zoot Advantage running shoe performed amazing. I have always had a bit of a history with minor running injuries and have really never had any luck with running in light weight racing shoes. The Zoot Advantage has just enough stability for a marathon while still keeping the weight down so you feel like you are running in a pair of light weight racers. If you are like me and you struggle with the limited support of most light weight running shoes then give this shoe a try. They fit great, have nice support, and they feel nice and light on your feet.

Well, now I just have to take this run fitness and turn it into a great tri-season!!!