Back From The Races...

Well, it's fall marathon time and there are a bunch of us who ran or are planning to run one. We all have different abilities, goals, expectations, and reasons for taking this challenge at all. I've been following real world and online friends' exploits here on SparkPeople and on other sites. I'm impressed. I'm even impressed with someone who did not finish because he was smart enough to not to push through on a rolled ankle. I'm impressed with a guy who is six years older than me who has been a runner all his life and wants to run the Boston Marathon in 2047 because he'll be 100 years old then. I'm impressed with a friend who lost over 200 lbs. and still weighs over 200. She finished her first marathon in Washington DC on Sunday and is already back to her fitness routines. So a shout out to fellow Sparkers, BOILHAM and ONMYMEDS, who completed marathons in the past couple weeks. They are both a little older than me and are giving me a path to follow.

When I ran in the Empire State Marathon ten days ago, I had my own goals, and expectations. My main goal was to finish without injuring myself. Secondary goals were to have a better time than my first marathon, not to run any miles slower than twelve minutes, and to run continuously. I did finish and I bounced right back without any injuries so success there. Miles 23 and 24 were 12:08 and 12:01 so I guess I have to call that a fail even though I'm pretty happy with coming close. I missed beating my previous time by 14 minutes so that's a fail too. Maintaining a continuous run at a consistent pace was a success. There were water stops every mile plus a few extras. I hit every one of them practicing the moving grab. I don't think I spilled a drop. The thing that I was happiest with was that according to my Garmin, I had only eight seconds of non-moving time. I know when they were. I had to stop while the finisher's medal was placed around my neck. Then I continued out of the chute and ran another quarter mile to let my heart-rate slow down gradually.

I wanted to come in under four-and-a-half hours, but I expected to come in under five. I met my expectation and I feel great.