At the Missoula Marathon

Gysel Parajon(MM8995) – Yesterday was a fun, special, and tough day for me at the Missoula Marathon, my 17th state, 70th marathon, and 74th overall long distance race!!! I had the pleasure of seeing friends, and making new ones with fellow Maniacs and 50-Staters. I even kept pace with some amazing runners, Jun Ulama, Karen Murray Anderson, and Sherry Ricker, for most of the race, mile 15.5, until my body decided it really needed to slow down. Thank you! I think I would have slowed down earlier if I hadn’t been running with all of you!
During the race I couldn’t exactly figure out why I didn’t feel so good. But, after getting some rest and processing the day I realized that I had most likely overdone it on Saturday. I had gone on a few lengthy walks all over Missoula in the heat of the day, after a night of not sleeping well, which carried over into yesterday. And, although not a major factor the shoes that I took with me aren’t ones I normally race in. They were in fact too soft, which is something I never thought I would say!
This marathon completes my craziest month of 2024 thus far. I started June with a double marathon weekend, followed by three weekends of back-to-back races, a local half marathon in Tahoe, Grandma’s Marathon in MN, and the Missoula Marathon. And now I take a break, sort of, just from marathons until the fall, maybe…I am running the Tahoe Rim Trail 56 Mile Endurance Run in 3 weeks. 😁