My First Marathon
As I was struggling to finish my first twenty mile run of the season this past Sunday I was reminded of my first marathon. It was in 1999 at The Louisville Marathon. I guess the race came to mind because how I was feeling Sunday was similar to how I was feeling then.
At that time my training consisted of running five miles four or five days per week. I did no speed, no tempo, no hills, and no long runs. Except for one particular Saturday. I set out to do my five mile course, but when I got to the turn around I decided to keep going. I'm not sure what made me go further. Maybe it was the weather. As I recall it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was warm but not hot. Maybe I was bored and was just looking to kill some time. Maybe I was just feeling good that day.
Up to that day I had never run further than six miles. I later drove the course that I had run and found that I had gone 16 miles. I can't remember how long it took, but I'm sure it was slow. I was proud of what I had accomplished and foolishly began to think of myself as a runner.
If I could run sixteen miles, I thought, surely I could hang on and do another ten. So I signed up for the Louisville Marathon, which was about a month later. My training didn't change. I was still doing five miles a day and I don't think I attempted another long run.
The race started at 7:00am. It didn't occur to me to spend the night in Louisville in order to get a good night's sleep. I woke up at 4:00, got my things together and drove to the race. I got there at 6:00 and picked up my race packet. It was my first race of any distance and I had no idea what I was doing or where to go. At about 6:45 the crowd of runners migrated toward the starting line. I just followed the mob.
At the time I didn't know the first thing about pace. I didn't even own a watch and Garmin had not not yet arrived on the scene. After the first couple of miles I settled in with a small group. We introduced ourselves and began a conversation. "What time are you shooting for?", someone asked me. I explained that it was my first marathon and that I just hoped to finish. I went on to say that I would be happy to get under four hours. He looked at his watch and laughed. "You are at a pace to finish in 3:10", he told me.
Most people would have immediately slowed down. Not me, I was going to cruise to a Boston qualifying finish. After all, I did run sixteen miles that one day. Of course, at that time I didn't know what the qualifying times were or that you even had to qualify for Boston.
Needless to say, I hit the wall and I hit it early. I think I first started walking at mile fifteen. I alternated running and walking for the rest of the race. I limped in and finished at 3:45:00. Not too bad for my first marathon, but a little embarrassing as countless people passed me in the last several miles.
If nothing else, I did learn a lot in Louisville. I developed a great appreciation for the distance and how difficult the marathon is. I would like to say I learned to better pace myself, but that lesson wouldn't be learned for a couple more marathons.
I tell others that I finished in the top 100 of the Louisville Marathon, which is true. I was 99th. What I don't tell them is that there were only 300 runners in the race.
Back to Sunday's run, when I ran the first twenty miler of the season. I ran the first six alone and then met up with the group for the next six. They ran the long run on Saturday and were just doing a recovery run. I ran the last eight alone. Like the Louisville Marathon, I struggled with the last few miles.
The encouraging thing I took from Sunday's run was my pace. I averaged 7:35 per mile. That's only ten seconds per mile slower than what I need to run in order to run sub 3:15:00. The not-so-encouraging thing was that I don't think I could have run another six miles if my life depended on it. My endurance needs to improve. But, with five weeks until Boston and eight until the Pig there is still time.
I would be interested to hear from others about their first marathon.
At that time my training consisted of running five miles four or five days per week. I did no speed, no tempo, no hills, and no long runs. Except for one particular Saturday. I set out to do my five mile course, but when I got to the turn around I decided to keep going. I'm not sure what made me go further. Maybe it was the weather. As I recall it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was warm but not hot. Maybe I was bored and was just looking to kill some time. Maybe I was just feeling good that day.
Up to that day I had never run further than six miles. I later drove the course that I had run and found that I had gone 16 miles. I can't remember how long it took, but I'm sure it was slow. I was proud of what I had accomplished and foolishly began to think of myself as a runner.
If I could run sixteen miles, I thought, surely I could hang on and do another ten. So I signed up for the Louisville Marathon, which was about a month later. My training didn't change. I was still doing five miles a day and I don't think I attempted another long run.
The race started at 7:00am. It didn't occur to me to spend the night in Louisville in order to get a good night's sleep. I woke up at 4:00, got my things together and drove to the race. I got there at 6:00 and picked up my race packet. It was my first race of any distance and I had no idea what I was doing or where to go. At about 6:45 the crowd of runners migrated toward the starting line. I just followed the mob.
At the time I didn't know the first thing about pace. I didn't even own a watch and Garmin had not not yet arrived on the scene. After the first couple of miles I settled in with a small group. We introduced ourselves and began a conversation. "What time are you shooting for?", someone asked me. I explained that it was my first marathon and that I just hoped to finish. I went on to say that I would be happy to get under four hours. He looked at his watch and laughed. "You are at a pace to finish in 3:10", he told me.
Most people would have immediately slowed down. Not me, I was going to cruise to a Boston qualifying finish. After all, I did run sixteen miles that one day. Of course, at that time I didn't know what the qualifying times were or that you even had to qualify for Boston.
Needless to say, I hit the wall and I hit it early. I think I first started walking at mile fifteen. I alternated running and walking for the rest of the race. I limped in and finished at 3:45:00. Not too bad for my first marathon, but a little embarrassing as countless people passed me in the last several miles.
If nothing else, I did learn a lot in Louisville. I developed a great appreciation for the distance and how difficult the marathon is. I would like to say I learned to better pace myself, but that lesson wouldn't be learned for a couple more marathons.
I tell others that I finished in the top 100 of the Louisville Marathon, which is true. I was 99th. What I don't tell them is that there were only 300 runners in the race.
Back to Sunday's run, when I ran the first twenty miler of the season. I ran the first six alone and then met up with the group for the next six. They ran the long run on Saturday and were just doing a recovery run. I ran the last eight alone. Like the Louisville Marathon, I struggled with the last few miles.
The encouraging thing I took from Sunday's run was my pace. I averaged 7:35 per mile. That's only ten seconds per mile slower than what I need to run in order to run sub 3:15:00. The not-so-encouraging thing was that I don't think I could have run another six miles if my life depended on it. My endurance needs to improve. But, with five weeks until Boston and eight until the Pig there is still time.
I would be interested to hear from others about their first marathon.
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Well, I can't share any marathon stories because I've never ran a marathon, but I found your first marathon story very amusing.
I completed my first marathon in Phoenix...the Rock 'n Roll marathon. I heard it was a good one to start with because of the support and flat course. I had barely been running for a year and had accomplished 2 half marathons, so I thought to myself, "why not run a full." I kind of took the same training approach that you did...I only went up to 15 miles twice! haha boy was that a mistake!I hit my wall at mile 21 and started walking through the water stops, which helped a lot. I almost stopped with 3 miles to go but then I just kept thinking to myself that I've run 23 miles so what is 3 more, right? I finished in 4 hours and 17 minutues and when I crossed the finish line I was hit with such an emotional rush...tears of pain and tears of shear joy! I would do it again in a heart beat, and in fact am trying to decide on which one to do (there are so many that I want to do...Marine Corps, New York, Las Vegas!!) My first marathon experience was nothing short of amazing...although I was in severe pain by mile 21! I encourage everyone to finish a marathon in their lifetime...you'll get an amazing sense of accompishment that I really can't explain! I limped away with no regrets and I also learned that I need to improve my training for my next marathon!Anyway, now that my posting has turned to a novel, I will end it.
So there you have it, my first marathon experience! Keep up the great bloggin, Lance. I'm really enjoying it. And good luck @ Boston...I can only hope that someday my legs can take me there...
I was laughing at your "first marathon" story until I got to the part where you finished in 3:45. Um...yes, you are a runner.
My first marathon was the Pig last year. I had only been running for about a year, but I was in good shape. I decided I could do the full marathon when someone told me I could do it. I read a book about training and followed the on-line training program almost to the letter. I completed every long run and almost every run in between. I worried like crazy the few times I had to skip a run. (I was always the type of kid who did my homework and never considered not doing it.) My goal for the marathon was to not throw-up. I was not even worried about finishing. I did meet my goal and I did finish. I was fortunate to have the support of several relatives running the relay and one running the entire marathon with me. We did spend lots of time waiting for each other to get out of the potty. My official finish time was 4:52:50. Hey, that would get me to Boston if I was 70!
Like I have said before, running the marathon was much like giving birth. The start of the race is very exciting...by mile 20, you swear you will never do it again. Crossing the finish line makes you forget all the pain and you only remember the good parts. Then your husband talks you into doing it again.
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