Marathon Complete BUT……

Yes I did complete a 26.2 mile marathon.

Did I run it all? NO!!

Was it the time that I wanted? Not even close.

Everyone keeps telling me that I should not be disappointed with the time; it is just the fact that I completed a marathon. I have said it before; I am not a runner so I do not have the mindset of a runner. I kind of trained like a runner but still, not the same way and certainly, not as hard.

With all that being said, I KNOW I can beat that time. I ran almost a 15 minute mile from about Mile 18 to the end. That is a fast pace walk. I felt like I did walk that whole time. I was out about four weeks ago and ran what could have been calculated as about 17 miles. I ran out of my Gatorade that I had brought. I stopped off at a convenient store that was along my route and got some water. I felt better after that. That was no where near the feeling I had on Sunday. I know people would say that every day is different when running and that is true because about two months ago I thought I was not going to be able to run any more after the way my legs were feeling, but then I still ran on Sunday.

I am going to give you the breakdown of the day from what I can remember.

The day started off at 34 to 37 degrees. As a group, we were asked to be there at 6:30a for pictures. My family got up at 5:00a since we spent the night in Lincoln. It was better to stay there than to have to drive to there from Omaha. Also, we were able to get down for some prime parking, which will be revealed later, it did not matter. We all headed to the “back side” of Memorial Stadium for pictures. There had to of been close to 17,000 people there – 10,000 runners and the others were friends and family. I headed to my starting position which was already towards the back because I lined up with the 10:00 minute mile pacers. I thought that is where I belonged. It was a good decision because I stayed with that group until the 1 mile mark and that was about 10 minutes. After that I went to my pacing that I was working on during my training. I felt pretty good but I just felt different. I thought I was going to pick up the pace but I just could not. I say my family at about mile 4 or 5, I am guessing. It was shortly after that, where things started to go wrong.

Those feelings are coming back and the tone may seem to change a bit.

I was at about the 10k marker and I started seeing people stopping to stretch or had cramps. I thought I was doing good because I was not feeling that way. But…. At that point, my phone/headphones/GPS started skipping around and beeping for no reason. Maybe the sweat was getting to it or something. It was making calls and the music was skipping. I had to turn it off for a while. That was frustrating because that helps me keep my rhythm. I was not able to find my pace again. I rounded the corner and started for mile 11. That is when I thought I was going to call it quits and just run the Half Marathon. I saw my family was waiting at a different spot. I even told them that I was not sure I could go on. I did send out a text to them and family, which was still coming into Lincoln to see me cross the finish line, stating that I was not sure if I could go on. It was just a minute or so later I thought, Why? Why stop now? I thought I could get my pace back and I could still finish with a decent time. I then sent off another text that said I was going on. I was really close to my “Chicken Exit” for the Half Marathon split. I did not take it and continued on. It was neither a dumb nor smart decision. I just wanted to finish what I had started. After that most of it is really a blur. I just know that at about mile 15 or 16 is when I met up with my mentor for my training. His name is Ray Brown. Really without him I am not sure what my time would have been or if I would have even finished. At that point my mind was playing tricks on me. I was thinking about what would happen if I could not go on or what my options were. Then I was thinking about the people that were waiting for me back at the stadium. I was also thinking that I needed to be done by 12:30p so we could be back for my son’s baseball game. That is what kept me going for a while but I kept thinking that I could get my pace back and people just kept passing me. Once I was with Ray, he kept me going and kept talking to me. That really helped. He kept me on a minute by minute pace of run walk. We did that at a rate of a 14 to 15 minute mile.

That took some of the mind games out of my head. He was always so positive while I was struggling. He was chatting it up with the people that were cheering on the runners, the volunteers, the police officers and the people that were running. I felt so bad for him that I did start to increase my pace just a bit but I was just so exhausted that I had a hard time keeping up. He had no problems. But little by little we made it back to the stadium. I got to the 26 mile mark and ray was still talking with the Nation Guard members and there was a DJ that he was talking to about his dedication for sticking around. We got to the ramp that leads to the inside of the stadium and I just gave it everything that I had and came sprinting onto the field and across the finish line. I almost lost it and started to cry. I just could not believe that it took me that long to make it to that point. There were so many people that were waiting for me and I was “holding” them up. After I crossed the finish line, the only thought in my head was: “Alright, let’s go to a baseball game.” People wanted pictures and hugs. But I was so mad at myself that I just wanted to leave. I did not care about the other people’s feelings. I am still upset about the time but I am also upset that I may have come across as rude to the people that were there. They were so happy for me and I may have been a bit snippy to them. That was wrong of me. They WANTED to be there and were not upset about the waiting. They were just happy that I finished.

And I did finish. I may not have been happy with the time and I was not the slowest one out there….. So I should just be satisfied with that. The weird thing is - I am not. I have said the whole time, I AM NOT A RUNNER and I had said that this was going to be my only marathon. Ray, my mentor, had said that I will get the itch to run more. I would not say that I have the itch to run more but I think I am going to either run the Omaha marathon or the Lincoln one next year just for one reason, to beat my time. I do not see that being a pattern for future years but I guess I cannot say that would really be the case since I am considering running again. What did I learn from this is? Training is very important. I slacked off so much that would have prepared me. This is not like cramming for an exam. I know this sounds so basic but you have to learn one way or another.

I had to wait a few days to post this otherwise is might have been more of a complaining session on how bad I did. But really thank you to everyone out there for your encouragement and support. I thought the response was overwhelming and I really appreciate it.

I will end with:

May The Force Of THX Help Give Your Life More Clarity