Well, one more life goal down…
My first marathon was the Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio on November 15, 2009. I finished in just over 5 hours, which was just fine with me.
First let me say, that was fun. It was a long damn race, but it was fun.
Second: they say you hit the wall at about mile 20. My wall was waiting for me somewhere around mile 14. Mile 20 was easy. At mile 14 you’re still running away from the finish line. After mile 17, you’re running towards the finish line. And the fastest way home is down the race course… so everything after mile 17 is easy. (of course, besides the fact that it’s still 9 miles away)
Third: At one point earlier this year, I thought I might be able to do this race in 4 hours. I still think I might have been able to get there with more/better training. But instead, I decided to enjoy both training, the race, and my life. It turns out that just preparing for a marathon can consume a ton of time… so backing off the training a bit can make the rest of life quite a bit easier and more enjoyable.
As a corralerry, taking my time at the race meant that I jumped out of bed the next day without any pain. I was tired, for sure, but not sore. This was a very welcome relief. Loosing time during training is one thing, but losing time to recuperating after a marathon injury would be more disappointing.
Fourth: Turns out that I’m a bit emotional after running for 5 hours straight. Go figure.
Fifth: Check out the front image on the Marathon Website… That’s me in the background! I kinda hope that I don’t have to keep looking at my pained face as they start advertising next year’s race…
There are a few more photos on the official race photographer’s website.
