Things to do before I turn 30: Finish a Marathon...Check!

On May 16th 2010 I crossed the finish line in Wilmington DE and now I can truly call myself a MARATHONER!  I definitely had my doubts about my ability to do this and now that I've crossed that initial barrier I feel as though I can do anything.  It is truly an amazing feeling. 

During the race the fellow runners were supportive and upbeat (most of them at least).  I found myself cheering on others which in turn made me feel optimistic and uplifted.  There were not nearly as many onlookers as I anticipated, but they made a huge difference.  One guy sat on the sidewalk with his drum set playing for what must have been hours.  Little kids handed out water and watched from their yards.  At one point a little boy yelled "Run faster!" at us which brought a smile to all of our faces.  My Uncle John and his wife Donna were near the finish line cheering for us.  It was fantastic to see their smiling faces!

The race was a social event in itself.  We met Maniacs, 50 Staters like my dad and THE original 50 Stater, Steve Boone.  The runners were so diverse.  There was a 70 year old man that started along side us that had a slow shuffling run but never stopped moving.  There were elite runners striving for their personal best time.  And the winner, one onlooker pointed out that we were only a few yards behind the leader (plus the 45 minute head start!).  But my favorite runners were the ones just like us, normal folks that wanted to do something extraordinary.

As I crossed the finish line it was exhilarating!  My dad was just in front of me and Sam just behind me.  The feeling of pride was overwhelming.  My body was happy to be done as well.  My feet were covered in the largest most disgusting blisters I've ever seen and my body ached.  But it doesn't matter...I'm a MARATHONER!

Now that I've reached my goal of running a marathon everyone asks if I planning on running 50 like my dad.  I'm not sure that I am interested in doing that many but I think I would like to run one or two a year.  The next goal that I want to accomplish is to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  In order to do that I will need to finish a race in 3 hours and 40 minutes.  I have given myself until my 34th birthday to complete this goal.  In the meantime I would like to enter the big marathons with lots of spectators like New York, Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia, Miami and of course Columbus.

I plan to continue my blog but now the purpose will be to chronicle my journey to Boston.  First stop...a 4 hour marathon.  Columbus is on October 17th...so the training begins.

Ready...Set...

I'm pretty embarrassed that I started this blog thinking it would help me stay accountable for my training and I haven't updated it in over a month.  The good news is that the training is on schedule.  I've had a few challenges but I've overcome them and now I am feeling great about my accomplishments.

In my last post I talked about working around other people's schedules and how difficult it was on my 16 mile run in Baltimore.  A few weeks later I was planning to visit my friend Amy in College Park, Maryland over the weekend.  This meant that I would have to do an 18 miler while I was there, without Sam.  My mom recommended that I skip the trip, but it had been so long since I'd seen my friends that I decided to go.

The night before my run Amy made me a lovely whole wheat pasta meal with all kinds of veggies.  I had two glasses of wine and resisted the requests to do shots with the group.  My plan was to get up early and do the run and get back when everyone was waking up.  I mapped out where I would run on the University of Maryland's campus and hit the hay.

The next morning I woke up before the sun came up, got dressed, grabbed my Gatorade and I was off.  Approximately 15 minutes later I called my sleeping friends to inform them that someone had stolen my Gatorade.  Who steals Gatorade?  Opened Gatorade at that!  I realize that the economy is bad, but I had no idea it was effecting the sports drink market so much.

Amy was so sweet and brought me two replacement bottles and even picked a hiding place so they wouldn't be stolen.  The remainder of the run went off without a hitch. 

At about mile 15 a man in a minivan drove by and shouted "Keep it up!" This really got me moving.  I started to think about what the atmosphere would be like in Wilmington on race day.  I could imagine people shouting from the sidelines "You're a marathoner!  You can do this!"  Then I started imagining myself on those sidelines cheering on other marathoners.  I was sweaty and red faced, indicating that I didn't finish last and I wanted to inspire others to the finish.  But even if I finish last I will be OK with that.   

One of the mental techniques my training guide teaches me is to imagine myself crossing the finish line.  I don't use this technique too often because just imagining it is so overwhelming emotionally that it actually uses up more energy than I can spare on a long run.  I can't wait to really experience it though. 

The race is Sunday and I'm ready.

Other People's Business

As if it is not challenging enough to find the time to run in my busy life, I ran into a hurdle that someone else created. Last weekend Sam's best friend George got married to his longtime girlfriend Becca at 11am on Saturday. I couldn't think of better time to demolish the hopes of a 16 mile run. Luckily, I took advantage of one of my unused vacation days (to my boss' horror) and completed the run on Friday.


Figuring out when to run was the easy part. Locating a suitable place in Baltimore to run was a challenge. As an infrequent visitor of the charm city I am unfamiliar with the neighborhoods and parks in the city. And Sam and I learned that even people that are familiar with the city don't have a clue as to a good place for a long run. So on a cold rainy Friday morning we tried to navigate our way to a park near our friends' home. Once we arrived we struggled finding an appropriate loop that we need for rehydration purposes. After trudging around the park for about 1.5 miles arguing the second .75 miles we decided to head back to our hotel and run on the treadmills.

I must say that I appreciated the four star workout room and thanked my stars that I was not back at the grungy South Branch Inn. With the TVs in front of the treadmill I was able to reminisce with a few episodes of 90210...that Brandon, he's always getting himself into some kind of trouble!

I am a Marathoner

To inspire positive behavior I have decided to start telling a new person everyday that I am a marathoner.  It is kind of a hard thing to say right now, because I don't really see myself this way.  But I'm going to continue to say it so eventually it will be a fact.

A woman from the plant has offered to run with me tomorrow.  I really hope she decides to do it, and stay with it.  I worry it will be short lived because she doesn't currently run and she is a smoker.  I've decided to share the book with her and suggest that she follow the pre-training to get her in shape to start running.  I think that is what a marathoner would do to help someone get motivated.  And you guessed it...I am a marathoner!