REFLECTIONS ON THE MARATHON - PT. 2

Since I've started running in 2008 I've tried to get faster and stronger. For the most part I've hit my goals and my times have gone down in the 5K through the half marathon. When I took on the challenge of training for a marathon I knew it would be hard but as the training schedule wore on, I got stronger and faster still. I humbly admit that my head got a little big dreaming about what I could do in my first marathon. My training was going great and if you just looked at the numbers, I was on my way to making my time goal.

What I didn't realize was there's a whole other aspect to this marathon thing. I guess you could call it the intangibles. These are the things that don't usually factor into shorter races, even a half marathon. Intangibles like fueling, the "wall", and making double dog-gone sure of your pace.

One of my friends calls the marathon a "fickle beast" and that is only too true. A beast in that you can be over halfway through but still have over ten miles to go. Ugh! Fickle because no matter how hard you train and no matter how well that training goes......anything......yes, anything can happen. Unfortunately, that anything is usually a bad thing. I learned a lot from my marathon experience but one of the most important lessons was learning to keep a loose grasp on PRs. It's great to get a personal record and improve each time you go out. But a finish time should not be the defining element of your race, especially a marathon.

As the last 6 miles of my marathon wore on, I realized how difficult it was just to finish one of these beasts. And as I came closer and closer to the finish line I didn't really care about my time. All I could think of was finishing and the joy of that accomplishment. I have utmost amounts of respect for anyone who finishes a marathon, no matter what their time.