This post is long overdue. If I am motivated enough, I try to attempt a milestone each year. A physical feat. At least, a feat for me. Here is a summary of my milestone for 2009, the Marine Corps Marathon.
In 2009, I decided not to attempt the Assault on Mount Mitchell. Been there, done that mentality I guess. Also, logistically, it can be rather nerve racking. The ride is on Monday. Weekends are much better for transportation both drop off and pick up. My husband works, my son is now in school. In 2008, my husband dropped me off in Spartanburg, SC at ~6:00 am. They watched me start at 6:30 am then rushed back to Marion, NC to have my son in school by the bell. He did it. I just didn't want to put him through that again. Although, he would have. (I think).
I actually thought I would take it easy this year with no goals in mind. Just enjoy myself. Training can be more mentally taxing than physical especially if you have a real job and family. Am I training enough? I need to get more miles in? It's exhausting just thinking about it.
My sister runs and ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 2008. She wanted to do the Marine Corps Marathon in 2009. I run as an alternative to bad biking weather. I actually think I'm a better runner than rider, but I LOVE my bike. I don't have a Bucket List. So many people have "run a marathon" as something to do before they die. Makes running a marathon sound cliche. But it is definitely a challenge, and I knew that.
I jumped on board finally, and signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon. Now I was committed. Training started in late June. I followed Art Lieberman's beginning marathoner training plan found in The Everything Running Book. My first long training run was 10-miles in hot, humid Myrtle Beach. I was beat. Talk about questioning your goal. I had run probably 9-miles at the most up to then, and mostly winter running. It was definitely a wake up call that this was going to be HARD.
I followed the training plan religiously. Although I did skip my easy Saturday runs with a bike ride. At first, I thought I could keep up with both my running miles and my bike miles. No such luck. I injured myself the day following the 17-mile long run. I tried to run the very next day. I walked home after 2.5-miles with much pain. I treated my injury and was concerned that I would not be able to run. I talked with friends that were runners or former runners who all gave me very good advice. The lesson I learned don't push it. Your body can only take so much especially at my age. Tough, painful lesson. I'm not Super Woman after all.
I completed the training, running in pain for a time after my injury. Completed the Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon in September in preparation for the whole. Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon was a great training run since it is a VERY hilly course. Not good for my injury, but I took it easy knowing that this run was not my ultimate goal.
The actual marathon day was great. I had my sister escort me around since she was the expert. She told me about the Clif Bar Pace Team so I could have someone else worry about my pace and not me. Running and concentrating on your time is hard so why not let someone else do it for me? Over 21,000 runners that day. Never ran in a group quite that size. That was the most difficult, sharing the road with so many people. You had to stay alert.
I kept with my pace group until mile 22, I think. I can't rem
ember exactly. But I knew I was on mark to achieve my goal. The group would run through water stops and at that point, I needed my water. I reminded myself that the ultimate goal was to finish. I wasn't going to finish without fluids. I crossed that finish line, and I was so thankful that it was over. My official time was 3:41:44. Good enough to qualify for Boston at my age. Not bad for my first (and only) marathon. There were plenty of spectators on the route with motivational signs. One of my favorites...Pain is temporary. Pride is forever. It helped me immensely. It is so true.
Oh, by the way, my sister finished too! Very proud of her. I relied on her throughout this process to get me through. She did the same for me for the first year of my son's life. (She has three boys). We would update each other on our training runs. Even though we weren't physically training together, we were together in spirit--often a sweaty, tired, and sore spirit.
We also enjoyed our short time as tourists in DC. Went to a museum and a few monuments. We country folk loved the Metro. Got caught in a torrential downpour. We had a blast! DC, a great place to visit.
Now what for this year...I would like to say that I just want to enjoy pedaling or running without any training for an event or goal. Maybe this year, I will accomplish just that!
