More Marathon Stuff

The more I think about the marathon the more I realize there was no way I was finishing under three hours and 20 minutes. I purposely stayed ahead of the 3:20 pace group up until mile 23 and when that pace group past me I knew my prospect of qualifying for the Boston Marathon had faded away. This is okay by me because I know I gave it my best and seeing my family at the finish line was all I needed. It was interesting because one of the first questions asked by my daughter and son was “When is the next marathon?” I had to laugh because at that point with my legs aching the last thing I wanted to think of was running another 26.2 miles so I just said; “we’ll see”.

They specifically inquired about the marathon in Phoenix which takes place in January. This is the one and only marathon that I started but did not finish some four years ago. As I reached mile 15 and ran past my family on the sidelines my knee had too much pain for me to continue. I still have a little regret from not finishing this marathon and I will always remember the look on my daughter’s face (then 6 years old) who said, “Get back out there!” I couldn’t get back out there and the next day I was in the emergency room fearing I had strained a knee ligament. Thankfully it was only tendinitis but it took me a long time to get back into running shape.

Yes, this is on my “unfinished business list” however; it really isn’t that important to me. I would like to complete the race and the timing may work out since the children have the Monday after the race off from school. Of course since this marathon is in another state I will need to request permission which hopefully won’t be much of an issue and additionally this will be a much more expensive endeavor. I still have debts that need to be paid to friends and family which I am working towards and I certainly can’t justify a “jaunt” off to Phoenix in January while I still owe money. I will see where I am at with this debt before I make any decisions to take a “vacation marathon”. I will start training for a marathon in January since I know there is a local marathon around the same time of the Phoenix Marathon.

I was so tired that I went to bed at the same time the children went to bed last night. The problem was staying asleep. I fell asleep very quickly but when I woke up feeling refreshed I looked at the clock only to discover it had only been two hours!!! This meant it was time to rollover and get more sleep; oh yes, I got more sleep and the “after marathon tightness” settled in. I know what to expect at this stage after a marathon and yes, my legs were very sore. It is very difficult to go down the stairs as my quadriceps are very tight but this is to be expected and sad to say I somewhat enjoy this as well. I look forward to the soreness in a weird sadistic manner and I was sore.

I was not about to head over to the gym this morning because my body needed the rest. I remember back to my first marathon where I couldn’t get back to the gym one full week after but with the subsequent marathons the soreness dissipated much quicker. I will probably be back in the gym on Wednesday but I won’t run until next week. I will cycle and run the lactic acid out of my legs because this helps to rid my body of the soreness. Also; I have a very good indication on how I need to alter my training program and much like my previous marathon I need a longer run than the two 20 mile runs at least one month prior to the marathon. I would like to run at least one 24 mile run because this is where I seem to fade.

I checked my watch after each mile and as I approached mile 22 my pace started to fade. My pace actually increased from mile 6 to mile 12 from mile 1 to mile 6 but faded dramatically from mile 20 to mile 26. The key is the last 6 miles and this is where the marathon starts. If I am dedicated to qualifying for the Boston Marathon I need to step up my training to include the 24 mile run which should help me make up the 2 ½ minutes. Of course; this is all one stride at a time as life is lived one moment at a time in recovery.

I made my way into the office this morning for a meeting and this meeting went well. I was asked about the marathon and those in attendance at the meeting actually marveled that I was able to make my way into the office after having run 26.2 miles. It was funny because I was asked if I ran the marathon on purpose and yes, this was meant to be a joke.

It was 6 years ago that I ran my first marathon as a test to my fitness level. In my opinion I failed that first test emphatically but thankfully over that time I have gotten much better and now I can officially state that I have taken off over an hour from my first marathon. I ran that first marathon in 4 hours and 23 minutes and yesterday I completed my 7th marathon in 3 hours and 22 minutes. It is good to know that I feel better after this marathon as opposed to that initial marathon. Yes, things to do improve with time!!!