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26 2 if for no other reason than just to say i actually ran a marathon my dad ran one and two of my sisters have run one but i am supposed to be the runner in the family this is something i should have done years ago in fact i wish i would have run one right out of college when i was in the best shape of my life then the task wouldn t feel so daunting now but as it is here i am less than 24 hours from the longest run of my life i am going to attempt the marathon with minimal training though i registered for the race back in february i only managed to get my training up to about 40 miles a week my average training pace is 7 30 min mile and the farthest i have run at one time is 14 miles which i did about two weeks ago still i am confident enough to think that finishing a marathon will not be difficult the difficulty will be getting a good time which is why i am nervous i don t want to take forever on this thing memories of my high school coach blowing out both knees and coming in just over 6 hours haunt me every night i meander through the serpentine rows of tables and tents engulfed in a cacophony of merchants hocking their wares and runners inquiries into the features of all the various doodads and gadgets what strikes me most is the selection of belts and armbands aimed at helping a runner carry things i don t want to carry anything with me i remember the days before cellphones and ipods when running was much more liberating hop i look up to see my good friend josh rohatinsky standing at one of the booths we quickly catch up and i find he is now working full time for the big cottonwood canyon marathon what a life i now wish i was working in a field dedicated to running when i tell josh tomorrow will be my first marathon he responds it s a different animal you want to run really slow the first half you need to feel like you re dogging it then you can pick it up if you re feeling strong if not you can just maintain your pace and avoid hitting the wall that usually comes around mile 20 22 i let his words sink in for a moment i don t want to run slow i have been fighting my whole life not to run slow but i see the wisdom in his counsel and so i resign myself to run very slowly the first half around 8 30min mile pace and then push it the second half because i m sure i will be tired of running so slow suddenly i m not so nervous about tomorrow because i have a clear plan for success it s my first marathon i don t need to break records i just need to finish and gain the experience without hating the distance and never wanting to run it again i return with my friends to our hotel room we layout our clothes for the next morning and hit the sack about 7 30 sure it s an early night but the last shuttle leaves at 4 15 in the morning so we plan to get up at 3 30 i m still anxious about the race but all things considered i sleep quite well i think i ve prepared well for the race i have sweats gloves and a hat to keep warm in the cold mountain air and we make a quick trip to the store for some vaseline but no bandaids i plan to avoid the bloody nipples by simply taking my shirt off before boarding the shuttle the shuttle ride is nerve racking the driver nearly an octogenarian manages to keep us on the road but hits no less than 6 of the orange and white construction barrels lining the road we finally arrive at the start of the race in wallsburg ut i know i have hydrated well as i make three trips to the port a johns prior to the beginning of the race i have my new compression socks on and i relax on the grass and stretch in the heat of a nearby firepit provided by the race directors this will be easy i tell myself i just start out dreadfully slow and pick up the pace halfway through the race this is my mental preparation for the race finally they call for the runners to assemble at the starting line it s not as cold as i was expecting but i decide to wear my beanie and gloves just to be safe all my other gear goes in the bag that i will claim somewhere after the finish line this is it i m 26 2 miles from glory 26 2 miles from joining a very elite group of millions of people across the globe who have finished a marathon 5 4 3 i hear the man with the bullhorn countdown 2 1 go see you at the finish line and we re off i start my watch as i trot across the start line it s a bit crowded i relax move to the left and pass several runners one of the reasons i think this race will be so easy is the course it s almost all downhill and so when i cross the first mile marker i am only slightly shocked to see my time mile 1 6 30 six minutes thirty seconds what so much for running intolerably slow at the beginning i try to relax my legs are not working that hard i think for the most part everyone has settled into their pace and there is not much change in the runners around me i slow down to a comfortable pace mile 2 6 34 13 04 yes i slowed down to 6 34 pace i question myself now sure the race is all downhill but can i maintain this pace no i am certain i will slow down should i just stop and walk now so that i can revert to my plan so eloquently stated yesterday by josh you need to feel like you re dogging it i do feel like i m dogging it but do i want to walk when i know i can run besides there are women around me i think i can hang with them and there s a guy wearing long pants in front of me long pants mile 3 6 39 19 44 still not out of wallsburg yet i feel good i feel relaxed i can t believe my pace i know it s way too fast for my training but i attribute that mainly to the downhill course i still feel like i m trotting mile 4 6 45 26 29 there is the occasional group of spectators but otherwise the course is clear and quiet save for the pounding of our feet on the pavement mile 5 6 55 33 24 i think this race is a metaphor i was given good advice i know the right thing to do yet i insist on doing what i know is wrong hoping it will somehow lead to happiness later on i have given up trying to slow down i maintain my comfortable pace mile 6 7 12 40 37 it s all downhill i am relaxed mile 7 7 06 47 42 i settle in for an easy run down the canyon i can see provo canyon road ahead and i take solace in the fact that i know this canyon i practically lived in the canyon while attending byu so i tell myself anyway i will watch the miles click away as i see the familiar landmarks leading me back to provo and the finish line mile 8 7 38 55 20 a small hill ahead but i can still see the lead runners mile 9 7 40 1 03 01 a second small hill and a glimpse of the dam a police officer parked in the middle of the road counts the runners as they pass i am 95 suhweet i could finish in the top 100 this thought spurs me on if i have to slow down at the end it won t be that bad i ll slow down to 8 minute maybe 8 and a half minute pace but still i am on track for a decent time mile 10 6 54 1 09 55 the reservoir is close now i have been running in the sun for the past twenty minutes but realize as i near the canyon it might get chilly and i am glad i haven t ditched my beanie and gloves yet mile 11 6 56 1 16 51 the dam looks different i had forgotten about the construction done years ago clearly i am not focused on running my mind is all over the place mile 12 7 23 1 24 15 there are people around me but i don t pay them much mind i am just enjoying the descent into familiar territory mile 13 7 07 1 31 23 this is the halfway point as a point of reference in january i ran a half marathon again without much training and finished in 1 34 my best half ever is 1 29 sure it s all been downhill but my mind has been trained not to consider this when running one must find every reason to hope for the best focus only on the positive that is my mantra just as i hit the halfway point i hit the port a john i haven t seen any suitable sites for a pitstop at the water stations and i don t expect to see any more so i figure this is my chance to rid myself of excess fluids mile 14 8 04 1 39 27 the extra thirty second pitstop hardly takes a toll on my pace i m still clicking along way too fast mile 15 8 07 1 47 35 still feeling good but i have now resorted to walking at the water stations i know i need the fluids i was getting water at all the stations before but now i get both the powerade and the water this is officially the farthest i have ever run at one time i am in uncharted territory as they say mile 16 7 28 1 55 03 this pace still feels good i am on track for nearly 3 hours and here i was dreading come in slower than 3 30 00 what was i worried about i am going to rock this marathon i hope mile 17 7 49 2 02 52 though i slow down by about thirty seconds and i can feel a couple of blisters beginning to form under both of my big toes i am still confident i will finish the marathon way faster than i originally thought bring on 3 15 00 mile 18 7 58 2 10 51 my toes are only slightly sore but otherwise i feel good a couple of runners have passed me but i still manage to maintain a good pace mile 19 8 35 2 19 26 yes i am slowing down but i was expecting this i just ran the fastest half marathon of the year and i am almost 25 minutes faster than my goal time running one or two minutes slower per mile for the remainder of the race will not kill my time mile 20 9 42 2 29 08 my right leg is starting to tighten up i feel a slight pain in my knee each time my foot strikes the ground no worries i can hobble in to the finish and still feel good about my race sure i am upset that several runners have passed me in fact it is a steady flow now mile 21 9 27 2 38 35 see fifteen seconds faster than the last mile i can do this i think it is awesome that the water stations now offer powerade water energy gel packets and vaseline on a popsicle stick yes i am still walking at the water stations mile 22 10 14 2 48 50 this is officially the farthest i have ever run in my life and this is as far as i can run my legs are starting to cramp i shove my compression socks down to my ankles to ease the strain on my calves i am slowing down shuffling my way along the course as an ever increasing number of runners pass me now out of the canyon i am cursing this part of the course the gentle curve with a slight uphill before the long straight stretch into downtown provo mile 23 14 31 3 03 21 i can barely walk i m only three miles from my goal and yet just ten miles ago i saw the very real possibility that i would be finished by now what a fool i was why didn t i listen to josh why didn t i stop and walk at the beginning had i done so i would not be moving so slow now i stop and retie my shoes hoping that tightening them will ease the pain of the blisters i try to shuffle along but my calves keep threatening to cramp up the guy in long pants catches up with me these last three miles are really going to hurt i can barely run he says to me you re doing good man i can barely walk i reply mile 24 20 12 3 23 34 i am in pain my legs have quit and i am almost certain i will have two bloody toes when i finish i want to collapse in the grass roll over on my side and weep every step i try to run jog or even shuffle i feel my calves silently threatening to seize up on me they tell me this is as far as they will run and i must walk to the finish it is so close i hate my calves i hate my blistered toes i hate my twitching knees and the fact that my compression socks either hurt my calves or cut off the circulation around my ankles so i have to keep moving them up and down should i take them off my whole body aches in exhaustion but that is not the worst of the pain the worst is the humiliation my conscience burns with the knowledge that i am no match for this race though the course was all downhill and though i felt comfortable with my pace at the beginning i am not prepared for this the woman holding the 3 45 00 pace sign passes me with her group of runners who will most certainly finish well before me i want to quit and i hate myself for wanting to quit the only thoughts that keep me moving toward the finish line are the people i will have to face later although my body begs me to drop to my knees in tears and just rest on the grass wait for a medical vehicle to come pick me up and take me to the finish and give me an iv or a really good massage and although a large part of me wants to do this needs to do this i know that my friends and family will inquire regarding my endeavor i will have to tell them that i could not finish that i quit that i did not finish that i failed this thought alone keeps me trudging toward center street i fight back tears and walk on mile 25 24 07 3 47 41 passing my old apartment there is an atv truck with a cooler and a bunch of water bottles on the back as they slow down to deliver some water to one of the policemen guarding the road and directing traffic i shuffle up and beg the woman for a bottle of water she agrees and as i reach for one she says grab one from the cooler if you want one that s cold you are a saint lady may god rain down blessings from heaven upon you and your children i keep walking this is by far the slowest i have ever walked a mile i resign myself to at least finish the marathon though i stopped running long ago my only consolation is that i pass a woman in a pink shirt she is the last of the half marathoners i actually pass one person in my last two miles of the marathon mile 26 15 45 4 03 27 my legs feel better perhaps it is simply that they send the end is near but i will them to pick up the pace with only a half mile left i am shuffling i am walking i am shuffling i am walking i am not crying mile 26 2 1 43 4 05 10 the last 2 miles i start to jog i am kicking toward the finish line almost as fast as a baby crawling across the floor towards a favorite toy and then i cross the line finished finally i finished posted by hop at 6 43 pm no comments sunday january 13 2013 running from an angel running from an angel running to the devil devil yeah hootie and the blowfish running from an angel it s late in the afternoon on new year s day he thinks it s about time to make some life changes so he looks online for a website he has been to once before there he registers for a half marathon race to take place in twelve days over the past six months his training has been spotty his typical runs were only 3 or 4 miles long and he has run no more than 9 miles at one time so the thought crosses his mind that twelve days may not be enough time to truly prepare for such a distance he shrugs and clicks the register button telling himself this will be a diagnostic race a measure to tell him where he is at in his training which to the casual observer is pretty obvious he is nowhere in his training but at least the race will afford him a beautiful view of lake mead and a goal to get him started on what he hopes to be a year full of long distance running over the following ten days he attends a spin class at the gym a couple of times and goes for an hour long run one morning two days before t...