A Picture Repeated, Mistakes Not
Today I am grateful for a few minutes to pause and meditate this morning. I am also grateful for the values my parents instilled in my siblings and I as children.
This will be the first time Darcy and I are running a marathon for the second time. The first time we ran the Twin Cities Marathon was in 2006, our third overall. We were 41 and had trained hard and set time goals faster than our previous ones. I was wondering if I had a sub-4:00 marathon time in me, and I did speed and tempo training (my version of them anyway) to better help me shoot for that goal.
It was a warm day on October 1, 2006, though the first miles of the marathon were still cool. I came in under two hours for the first 13.1 and felt like my goal of a sub-four hour marathon was possible. Then I bonked. I had gone out too fast. I was probably dehydrated and I cramped up (which felt like chest pains really and scared me a bit).
I walked a full mile between miles 20 and 21, then was able to resume running/walking and came in with a time of 4:15:35. It remains my fastest marathon, and I won't likely be challenging that PR.
I learned from that marathon experience. Don't go out too fast. It's better to start slower and see what I have in the tank the last few miles. I have had marathons since then that definitely felt better and less of a struggle because I followed that advice. I have even felt like I was picking up the pace the second 13.1 at times. I have yet to have a negative split in a marathon--that is running the second half faster than the first--but I have come closer since 2006.
Keep in mind, phrases like "less of a struggle" and "picking up the pace" are relative terms. But I do try to not repeat mistakes learned the hard way, in marathons and in life.
This picture from the TCM in 2006 has been repeated, however. It first showed up on a local news station in the years following, as mostly just a close up of my smiling face. We were surprised to see it one morning on the news.
This particular image below is straight from Wikipedia, if you search Twin Cities Marathon. I was equally surprised to see it there when I first stumbled across it.
This will be the first time Darcy and I are running a marathon for the second time. The first time we ran the Twin Cities Marathon was in 2006, our third overall. We were 41 and had trained hard and set time goals faster than our previous ones. I was wondering if I had a sub-4:00 marathon time in me, and I did speed and tempo training (my version of them anyway) to better help me shoot for that goal.
It was a warm day on October 1, 2006, though the first miles of the marathon were still cool. I came in under two hours for the first 13.1 and felt like my goal of a sub-four hour marathon was possible. Then I bonked. I had gone out too fast. I was probably dehydrated and I cramped up (which felt like chest pains really and scared me a bit).
I walked a full mile between miles 20 and 21, then was able to resume running/walking and came in with a time of 4:15:35. It remains my fastest marathon, and I won't likely be challenging that PR.
I learned from that marathon experience. Don't go out too fast. It's better to start slower and see what I have in the tank the last few miles. I have had marathons since then that definitely felt better and less of a struggle because I followed that advice. I have even felt like I was picking up the pace the second 13.1 at times. I have yet to have a negative split in a marathon--that is running the second half faster than the first--but I have come closer since 2006.
Keep in mind, phrases like "less of a struggle" and "picking up the pace" are relative terms. But I do try to not repeat mistakes learned the hard way, in marathons and in life.
This picture from the TCM in 2006 has been repeated, however. It first showed up on a local news station in the years following, as mostly just a close up of my smiling face. We were surprised to see it one morning on the news.
This particular image below is straight from Wikipedia, if you search Twin Cities Marathon. I was equally surprised to see it there when I first stumbled across it.
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| That's me in the forefront, in blue, with my "Sub-4" hat and a smile on. From Wikipedia. (This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. No changes were made.) |
I plan to show up Sunday morning with a smile on as well. My color scheme will again be blue.
My hope again will be to enjoy the experience and finish. That's plenty.
Great picture. Run, Lisa and Darcy, run! You inspire me.
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