Approximate stats:
20 miles
3 hrs 20 minutes
1.5 Gatorade, 1 Lemonade, 2 Gu
I did the longest run of my life on Saturday morning, and I felt every step of it. Coming off a great 14 miler last weekend, I was somewhat excited for this run, but I now realize that 3 hours of running is very different than 2 hours. I'm slightly nervous about what the 4+ hours on marathon day will do to me. Luckily, I had a buddy run with me from miles 6 - 12. Without the companionship, I wouldn't have stuck it out.
So, what's the big story with the run? Nothing, except it was damn hard. I never really hit my stride, never felt fully comfortable. I'm not sure if that was because I was tired from a big running week (40 miles total) or if I was psyched out knowing that I had 3 hours ahead of me. Ok, the two beers I had the night before also could have contributed, but they were worth it -- how could I not BBQ on such a gorgeous Friday night, and how could I not drink a couple of hefeweizens while I grill?
Whatever the cause of my discomfort, I finished the run with a deeper level of respect for anyone who has completed a marathon. I'm only in the training phase, and I realize completing the race is going to be a damn hard thing to do. I definitely glossed over that fact since almost everyone I run into these days has done at least one. It's to the point that doing a marathon has almost become cliche these days -- just one of those things to do before you turn 30, 40, whatever. But the fact remains that it is hard work.
Trust me, I'm not tooting my own horn here because because I haven't actually done it yet. I just felt it was important to acknowledge and congratulate the marathoners, century riders, and other endurance sports folks around us. For this blog, that means you Agricola. Nice job on that NYC marathon. FreeArtist, you and I get to join the club soon.
Looking forward to being able to say, "I ran a marathon."
(even as I'm secretly dreading the actual event)
Monday, May 7, 2007
Ouch
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thanks. Here's the interesting thing about marathons, and running races in general -- the crowd and your fellow runners contribute a tremendous amount to the 4 hour experience (or the seven mile experience whatever the distance).
Adrenaline alone, however, cannot sustain you for the whole run, and eventually you need to rely on your training, but really, the unaided part of the run comes in the last hour or so -- crowds and fellow runners will sustain you for about 2.5 - 3 hours, at least that's what I found.
Another thing I learned is that it's OK to stop and walk/stretch/walk through hydration stations. I never realized that until I got on the course. It was something I learned while running NYC. I did have to walk some the course -- from miles 17.5 - 19 my legs were shot after the Queensboro Bridge.
The thing with your first marathon is to finish -- and thousands of other people all want to finish.
I have to say that I got pretty emotional during parts of the run because despite the fact that I ran with 35k other people we were all unified in this one experience on this one day. Though it may seem cliche to say "I've run a marathon" there are still only, probably a few million people on planet earth who have actually done so. It's an accomplishment that requires toughness of both the physical and mental variety. The actual marathon is just the payoff to the training -- hour 3-4 will be tough, but you will start to get a new adrenaline rush as you come down the home stretch.
The last 1.2 miles of NYC were the longest, hardest 1.2 miles I'd ever run. Actually, I tried to really enjoy the last 5 miles which was hard with cramps and a low November sun in my face up 5th Ave.
However, I stopped and hugged FreeArtist and his family at mile 22/Marcus Garvey Park, I stopped at mile 25 to hug my family (but then 25-26 was misery, haha -- the rise from those encounters didn't last long).
In NYC, as you come back into the park along 59 St, into the finishing chute the adrenaline comes back because people are going nuts as you complete the journey. My stride was broken in the last three-tenths by a woman who was basically being carried by two people.
I was HURTING; I just wanted to be done; I was toast -- and I came up behind them and actually stopped and walked two or three steps because of this trio in front of me. I was about 200 yards from the 26 mile marker and said "f-this, I'm finishing strong." I kicked it through the last 3/10s and ran hard through the finish line -- or at least it felt like I did.
You'll do fine, don't dread it. Soak in the experience, pull strength from the other runners and the crowd, and just enjoy the run. You'll really run alone in the last hour or so, when it's all about you and all about finishing. You may actually have trouble moderating your early pace because of adrenaline, but all in all you'll do fine -- it's an awesome experience.
Awesome play by play of the experience. I know that I'll be in tears at some point during the run. On Saturday, I started to get welled up from a combination of exhaustion, effort and the satisfaction of being almost done. No tears on the warm up, but I realized that I'll be in no condition to pull it together during the race. It's a guarantee that I'll be sobbing at some point.
Thanks for sharing your experience. You got me pumped up for the race. It will be an incredible journey.
Post a Comment