First Marathon Down
Notice I said first. I think I’m going to do this again. Maybe not this particular one, but a marathon. The whole reason for doing this marathon was to see if I had it in me so that I could put to rest whether I could ever complete a full Ironman. The 140 mile version. Running has always been challenging to me, which is why I always suffered self-doubt when thinking about doing more than a half Ironman. I always thought I’d never be able to do it because I’d never be about to run further than a half marathon. Today proved all those years of negative self-talk wrong. Of course, it helped that 1) my coach Kamden Hoffman worked with me for two months prior to the race to fine tune my workouts and nutrition; 2) my friend Laura surprised me by showing up at the beginning of the race, and 3) Lou was prepared to meet me on the bicycle after finding a place to stash the RV (no small trick). There was very limited parking for spectators at the start of the race, so once Laura rescued me with hand warmers they took off to find a spectating spot and I took off for the start line. My coach had introduced me to the Jeff Galloway method of running after the Ocean’s Run Half Marathon when I began having hip pain during my longer training runs. Basically you fine-tune your run-to-walk ratio until you find one that works for you. Mine was 6(run):2(walk). This is the way I ran for every distance beyond six miles through today’s race. I am hoping that with rest and flexibility training this winter I can return to running more and walking less. When the horn blew today, I felt strong and confident. I was tempted to just run the entire first half and then revert to the run/walk. Fortunately my desire to finish in the least amount of pain possible and in five hours or less won out, and I obeyed my training plan. The first three miles were very cold; about 28 degrees. At mile 3.5 I was delighted to see Laura and Lou waiting for me, snapping pictures of my progress. Laura joined me at mile six and ran with me to mile 10. Just before Lou took over on the bicycle Laura and I ran with a 70+ year old who used to run endurance events but says he now only runs with the “slow 70+ old men’s club.” I hope that I’m still able to do anything at all physical when I’m 70. Lou rode alongside me to mile 17. He had parked the RV at mile 13ish, so I stopped in to use the (clean) bathroom, quick-change into dry clothes, and replenish my fuel. Laura met up with us again around mile 17 and ran with me through mile 23. It was on this last stretch that we caught up to John Young, a very inspiring man who I learned about at the Pumpkinman triathlon. It was our first ironman and we both ran the Myles Standish as our first marathon. He was supposed to run the New York City marathon, but signed up for this one when it was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. After Laura took off to meet Lou at the finish line (but not before she provided pain relief to another runner), I ran for a little while with a man who said he grew up in bars with his father and consequently became an alcoholic himself. He said he cleaned up after he had children because he wanted to show them that they could have a better life. The last mile was awful. It was mostly uphill, and it was at that point that I decided I would run through the walk intervals until I crossed the finish line. When I turned the last corner and saw that the finish was up yet another hill I’m afraid I let out an expletive. The lady directing the runners must have thought it was funny because she burst out laughing. When I reached the top of the hill I let loose with my legs and ran like crazy towards the sounds of Laura and Lou cheering me on at the top of their lungs. Man! I am SO happy that’s OVER! Once I caught my breath, had something to drink, waited for John to finish, and purchased my 26.2 bumper sticker, we went to the RV to celebrate with a glass of Cupcake proseco and Twinkies. I had visions of eating both of them, but they don’t taste as good as they did when I was a kid. My taste buds must have matured. We’re home now, and finished with our post trip chores and dinner. Lou’s already sacked out on the couch. As soon as I’m finished posting the pictures, I’m going to join him.
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