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My next marathon

It is official: I am signed up for the 2011 St. Jude Marathon.

This will be my second marathon. My first was the 2009 St. Jude Marathon. It was one of the most unique experiences I have ever had.

As I have posted before I love training. Before that first marathon I really don't think I completely understood what I was getting into. I used Hal Higdon's novice training program and got advice from my running buddy Alli. During the training the MRTC Road Race Series was going on. I completed all of the races and was deemed a Road Warrior. I took some step classes as well as pilates and yoga classes. I ate better. I backed away from lifting weights a little. I was in the best shape of my life.

My problem? I probably overtrained. And I went in a little cocky.

As I mentioned, I was in the middle of the Road Race Series. It is a series of ten races with each race two weeks apart. Two 5ks, two 5 milers, two 10ks, two 10 milers and two half marathons in that order. I looked at each race the same: PR! And I pretty much did. Every two weeks leading up to the marathon is a race. The last half marathon is two weeks before St. Jude. It is set up like that to get you ready for the marathon.

I am sure I at least somewhat overtrained because I didn't take it as easy on my "easy" runs as I should have. I think I was fine running the races, I just didn't focus on the big picture: getting ready for St. Jude.

My confidence was sky high by the time St. Jude came around. Every day I felt like I was getting better and better. Each race was better than the last. Each workout was better than the last. I felt invincible.

Two weeks before the big race was a very small local 5k and the last half marathon of the RRS. The 5k was a turkey trot put on by some Navy people. It was on a thursday afternoon right at my normal bedtime. The course was completely flat. I set a new PR and won the whole race. If it would have been on saturday when I was well rested I probably would have done even better. A few days later on sunday was the half marathon. That day I also set my PR and finished ahead of a guy that I had gone to school with who would always finish each race a couple minutes ahead of me. I felt invincible.

My original goal was to finish the marathon. As I gained confidence I decided 4 hours was an achievable goal. As I gained more confidence I decided that I should be able to finish between 3:29:00 and 3:42:00. That would be between an 8:00 - 8:30 minute pace. Afterall, I trained that fast. My long runs usually were at about a 9:00 and 9:30 minute pace so I should be able to make that happen.

Then came race day.

I took the week before the race off from work so I could be fully rested. At some point during the week I looked up what time my age group needed to qualify for the Boston Marathon. If I remember correctly it was 3:10 or 3:20. The morning of the race I thought "you know what, I just might have a shot". Obviously I knew it would be a longshot so I didn't put too much thought into it.

As I waited for the race to start I was nervous but felt really confident. I got off to a much faster pace than I should have. I think for the first few miles I was running a 7:30 pace. I felt great and the adrenaline was pumping. As the race went on I slowed a little but not much.

When I got to mile 17 I started to get a pain in my knee area. I was surprised because I had never had any pain there before. It moved up my leg and I later realized it was a cramp. I tried to push through it but by mile 19 I had to do the unthinkable: I had to walk. I couldn't help it. I could walk for a little while and work it out and take off running until I had to walk again. That went on until the finish.

Running is mostly mental. When I could no longer run the whole thing I started to get down on myself. I was throwing my own little pity party. Throughout the last seven miles of the race I had so many people lined up along the course holding signs and yelling "you are doing this for my baby!" That is when I realized that I was being selfish with my pity party. The fact that I was doing this for the kids of St. Jude should have been my inspiration, not trying to beat the clock. Their families were just glad I signed up.

When I got close to the finish line I told myself "I HAVE TO RUN!" The race ends inside AutoZone Park so when I turned on the street and saw the stadium I put everything I had left into finishing. People were lined up outside cheering us on and I got a nice adrenaline rush. Everything still hurt. When I entered the stadium it was packed. By then I could not feel a thing. The adrenaline from seeing my wife and kids right before I crossed the finish line was amazing.

It was a great feeling to finish a marathon. The problem was that it didn't go as I had planned. I really didn't enjoy it because I took it too seriously.

This year's race will be different. My goal is to RUN the entire race. However, I plan to enjoy it. The great thing about the St. Jude Marathon is the people. Part of the run actually goes through the hospital area so family members and friends of the patients are there to cheer you on there and throughout the course. Yes I will have a time goal. But I will also make sure I don't take it too seriously. This year I know what I am getting myself into. Lots of sore muscles, a complete mental battle with myself and lots of people who are just happy I signed up.

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