In retrospect

 Just a few more thoughts about the marathon:

• I didn't come into the race with the highest of expectation but in the end it went just about perfectly.  I honestly don't think there's anything I could have done on that day to make any tangible difference in my performance.   

• I slowed down the last 4 miles and I think that was completely attributable to my conditioning.  I've been consistent with my long runs and building them up over time but a lot of those runs have been in the 12-15 mile range.  I built those long runs up to 20 miles over the summer but I still wasn't quite there.  Just averaging one or two more miles a week on the long runs will make a ton of difference I think.

• Even though I crashed a bit at the end I didn't crash nearly as hard as my first marathon.  I dropped an average of about 30 seconds off my pace the last four miles.  My first marathon I lost more like 1:30 a mile over 8 miles.  

• Knock on wood, but so far I don't think I've done any long term damage.  The first marathon I did knocked me out for at least a month.  I'm going to take the recovery slow but I think I could be back jogging in a few days.  

• Super shoes probably helped... not exactly sure how to quantify?  The made my pace feel relatively easy and I held decent form and pace even at the end when I was wearing down.

• I was getting burned out at the end of my training cycle but now I'm reinvigorated and ready to take on my next challenge.  Just need to be smart and not rush my recovery.  

Checked back today and there was actually a good photo of me finishing the marathon... I'm actually smiling and not making a stupid face like in most of the other photos... really need to work on my race face