Monday, February 18, 2008

i did it!

Well, I finished my first marathon since college in 5h:4m:34s. Kind of slow, but I was just aiming to finish this time around. (Actually, I developed a goal midway through this race to beat my 13 year old self; when I was a wee punk I ran a marathon with zero training and finished in 5:10.)

The weather was perfect, sunny and 40s at the start, high 60s at the end. It was great having Allie and the folks out. They were able to drive around and cheer me on at four different spots, including the end. It was a real boost to have them out there cheering for me.

One of the places where they stopped was by mile 20. They said I looked really good compared to the others who were plodding through. I had a smile on my face and everyone else looked like they were going to die.

At that point, I decided to abandon the 3-minute run/one-minute walk plan, and run from water stop to water stop, which were about a mile apart. It went pretty good, until the last mile, that was close to pure hell. It had this itty-bitty hill right before the end that was agonizing. But they also had three hard rock bands playing along that stretch, so it helped. Plus I knew I was almost there, so I just pushed through the pain.

That said, the race was mostly pain free. I felt none of the injuries that were dogging me just a few weeks ago. Just a big old blood blister on one of my toes on my right foot. Today my IT band is a little tender, but my quads feel great, no pain in my calves or hips. In fact, I woke up feeling like I could run three miles.

So... I'm thinking I'm going to go ahead and do the Flying Pig in May. How can I resist a race called the flying pig?! Plus, I gotta break five hours now.

Oh, almost forgot... after the race we got in the hot tub and who was there but the winner! She was drinking champagne and being all happy. Pretty exciting!

4 comments:

Dan said...

Congratulations! That's fantastic!

Unknown said...

Whew-hoo!! Good for you! Do the Flying Pig -- you know what happens when pigs fly!

Lora

Fred Sanford said...

congrats!

finishing a marathon is a small act of personal heroism.

KC Sponge said...

Congratulations.

It is one goal that I won't ever hold for myself - but one that I am very impressed and humbled by.

Good job, Joe.