Marathon

A week ago today I would have rather fallen down a flight of stairs than walked down them…I did Grandma’s Marathon the day before and my quads were not happy with me.

Any runners out there? I don’t consider myself a runner. I’ve done a few half marathons and some shorter stuff, but I still don’t see myself as a runner. Runners run because they like it. Running to me is like hitting myself in the head with a hammer. I do it because it feels so darn good when I stop.

And doing a full marathon wasn’t a life-long dream of mine, or something on my bucket list. It had something to do with turning 40 (mid-life crisis?) and something to do with wanting to see if I could do it.

I guess that’s the biggest reason I run. Races, I mean. There aren’t many other areas in my life that I set a goal – like 6 or 12 months out – and have to work at it just about everyday – and then test myself to see if I’ve achieved the goal. Doing that seems beneficial to me. Well beyond the physical rewards. It feeds me mentally and spiritually.

The race last week was interesting. Very cool conditions, which were nice once we started running, but kinda rough when you’re standing at the starting line for almost 2 hours. Mid 40’s, drizzle and a steady wind off the lake. Brrr.

I held a steady pace and never questioned whether or not I was going to finish. That was my biggest goal – just to run the entire race. My longest training run was 20 miles and that was brutal. Started too fast for it and about died at mile 16. I learned my lesson on that one and settled into a much slower pace for the actual race.

It was awesome coming into the finish and seeing my lovely wife cheering me on. The rain had been falling steadily since about mile 17 and my body temp dropped quickly after receiving my medal and T-shirt. And my legs didn’t really want to walk anywhere.

4:16 was my time and I’m fine with that. Someone pointed out to me that I only need to shave an hour off of that in order to qualify for Boston.

No thanks.

I ran grandmas in 2010, first full marathon. I trained by myself and Sundays were my long run days. I would run from Hastings to Hampton and back. When I would leave I would see people going to church, when I was coming back, I would see the same people going home. Kind of surreal to imagine being out there that long. Race day was cool in the morning and warm at finish. I want to start training for one again, just hard to find the motivation with a newborn at home.

All through the training on the shorter runs I would bring my 7 year old springer spaniel, he loved going and he would stick with me for 6 miles on cool mornings.

Congratulations on the time (you beat my 4:46) and good luck on future runs.

Congrats Is that a climbing harnass your sportin’ ?

Our niece ran Grandmas with you. The oldest sone has done Grandmas a few times but had to stop his training for this one due to hairline fractures in a knee. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back next year.

As a kid I loved to run. Today I am short of breath just spelling marathon….THANKS BIG TOBACCO.

Congrats! I ran Grandma’s last year. Unfortunately I messed up my knee at about mile 20 and managed to finish, but still haven’t fully recovered. If I run anything longer than 5 miles now the pain is unbearable. My last few runs have been good, so hopefully I can start building up to a half marathon soon. I don’t love running either, but I can eat what I want and not gain weight.

Will you run it again next year? I swore I never would run a marathon again, but after not being able to run much over the last year I really hope I can run one again.

I love to run and if I don’t get at least 7 miles in I just don’t feel right. I log about 40-50 miles a week and I am currently training for the tc marathon hoping for a sub 4 hour which I don’t think will be a problem.
Just transitioned into minimist shoes and shortened my stride and up my cadence to try to help prevent injury.
I believe it is one of those things that just gets in your blood.
Congrats on finishing and that is a very respectable time!

I ran with a camelback hydration pack. I’d grown so used to it on my longer training runs that it was almost like a security blanket for me. And, I was able to use the same electrolyte mix on race day as I had been training with. I supplemented with water at just about every aid station.