Boothy I've only completed one full marathon (Disney Marathon - 01/11/04 - 3:50:04) I was really having a pretty good run until I developed a major cramp about two tenths of a mile after mile 24. It took me between 15 & 20 minutes to work it out to a point that I could continue. But I did and finished in a pretty good time none the less.
I will also be running the Maine Marathon this year and intend to use it to try to qualify for Boston. I need a 3:30 to get my BQ. If all is going well then I will give it my all in Maine, if not then I will back off a bit and use it as a training run for the Marine Corps Marathon and use that one to try to qualify. If I am able to have a quality run in Maine then I plan on simply running the Marine Corps Marathon for the pure enjoyment of it! I have heard so much about this race I am really looking forward to running it.
Depending on the distance I am running on any particular day I may run 6 or fewer miles during lunch while in York ar work (love to run the beach route) or I may run a variety of the country roads surrounding Biddeford, Dayton, Lyman, Hollis, Arundal, Kennebunk etc. Those are the areas close to home and there are relatively flat routes or I can choose the hilly routes if I need to run hills.
I would love to give your Raymond route a try sometime, just give me a shout and we can plan something. This coming Sunday will be a 14 miler for me (I think it is the 3rd Sunday run) in the Cool Running Advanced Marathon Training Program. If you take a look at it you can see the runs I have scheduled. I stay pretty much on schedule with it...especially on the weeked runs.
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"Keep on Running"
Bob
This will be my first half, so we'll see how the back and leg do!