THE Marathon!

I'm currently training for Marathon #5.   It will be about 4 1/2 years since my last marathon.  I didn't start distance running until my late 20's and then I got kind of hooked.  I gradually increased my race distance after my last pregnancy from 5K to 5 miles to 10K and then to a 1/2 marathon.  My 1st half marathon I trained really hard...but I was inexperienced with the race, and it went kind of awful.  I had taken a red-eye flight across the country to run with my awesome sister-in-law who pretty much is the reason I started distance running...and I was totally wiped out from the travel...and my system was all backed up.  What was supposed to be an awesome race ended up being a major stomach ache and pits stops at miles 10 AND 11 and then I was sick most of the rest of the day (more on that lovely dilemma another time).  Because of my extra stops and other factors I came in 45 seconds slower per mile than I hoped I would have.  But...I kept trying.  I ran several other half marathons, each faster or close to the last pace, until one day...it happened, I finally reach my goal of running an average of 8:00 min/mile.  It was a really great race and also my first "win" - first female.  I thought that was it, but last year I ran two 1/2 marathons, both faster at 7:53 and 7:51 pace.  The 1/2 marathon is a race that I really feel I've got a handle on.  I can finish strong and in good times and I know how to pace myself throughout.

And then...there's the marathon.  For me, the marathon has been a completely different animal.  Most of the time when I've trained for a marathon, it went pretty well.  But...each race something did NOT go well and I've been disappointed again and again.  I've told people time and time again that I did not conquer the marathon, the marathon conquered me.  And that's where it stands.  I've finished 4 marathons, but I haven't finished any of them well...if that makes sense.  I've seen the difference at marathon finish lines.  Everyone puts forth a lot of effort and no doubt the marathon is no joke of a distance, but there are some that come across the finish line having "won" and others that just survived.  I'm still in the survival camp.

My first marathon was actually my best time...just over 4:00 hours.  I trained hard and felt really good until about 18 miles.  And then...I got slower...slower...and slower.  Those last 8 miles just dragged on and on and on.  Somewhere between 22 and 24, we had a steeper downhill and my legs almost completely seized up.  I pushed on through the rest of the race...actually running probably 99% of it, and made it to the finish line.  I came across the finish line completely exhausted, but super proud.  The shocking thing was after a little bit of a rest when I tried to stand up...I really couldn't.  My legs had zero strength.  It took weeks for my legs to recover and for things to feel "normal" again.  Now, to my credit this marathon was rainy...so not only did I finish a marathon, but one in a great deal of rain.  Wahoo!

And then, I did my 2nd marathon.  I was expecting it to be like other races...better every time, but it wasn't.  It was an extremely horrible rainy day...and I got lost on the course...twice.  I openly admit that I cried and since it was a very small somewhat unorganized race, I just quit when I reached 26.2 miles and walked the rest of the way to the finish line, told the race director I got lost and gave him my own clocked finish time.  The marathon had beat me again.

3rd time the charm...right?  No such luck!  My husband and I ran my 3rd marathon together.  He is a much faster runner than I am, so I feel a little silly when I'm all tired and I feel like I'm holding him back, but we decided to do it together.  We traveled a bit, which put us in a different climate.  We trained in 50 and 60-degree weather and on race day in our race location is was over 80 degrees.  The first 10 miles went pretty well and I was enjoying the experience...and then we hit...the sand!  Who in their right mind decided to put the next 10 miles on a sandy trail, I will never know...but curse them!  My speed instantly slowed as I slopped through the sand.  By the time we got out of the sand the heat of the day had sunk in and it was crazy hot and miserable.  We finished...but again, my time was slower, both than my 1st and my 2nd marathons.

Okay, last attempt: #4.  My husband and I again decided to try the same race, but this time, not run it together.  At the time we were living in Japan...so we made it an international marathon by being there!  It was an amazing experience to run a marathon in a foreign country, but the marathon kicked my butt...again.  In Japan, it's very uncommon to close the streets for smaller marathons, so the course is often on a river trail, or in this case...loops of a park.  We kind of forgot that Japan likes to build its parks on unusable hills...making the marathon course 10 - 2.6 mile loops of the park's uphill/downhill course.  That course had some of the steepest things I've ever run...maybe even some stairs if I remember right.  I had been fighting what was likely the beginning of my knee injuries at that time so the uphills were insanely brutal and the downhill killed my knee.  So...I made it..again.  I stopped for way too long at a restroom at mile 17 trying to convince myself and my stomach to finish the race, but I did it.  How did my finish time come in?  It was the worst time yet!  Where my 1/2 marathon times got faster each time...my marathon times have done quite the opposite.

So, as I said, I have yet to conquer the marathon.  In the last 4 years as I've struggled with injury almost anytime I try and train above long runs over 15 miles, the marathon has still been out there...taunting me!  I'm finally strong enough that I'm going to give it another try.  Will this marathon #5 be the time when I finally conquer?  When I come across the finish line will I be satisfied with my accomplishment?  No idea!  I've learned A TON in the last 4 years both from experience, but also from reading lots of books on running, so I think I have a better idea of how to pace and fuel myself for a successful race, but only time will tell.