2007 Flying Pig
Who's ready for another three part blog about my marathon experience? Kidding.
Well, here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from today's race:
The Good
I was happy with my place in the race. I finished 334th. I'm not sure how many runners competed in the full marathon, but there were over 10,000 in the races today. I figured I finished somewhere around top 5% - 10%.
My pace was right on for most of the race. At the twenty-three mile mark I was still on pace to reach my goal of 3:15:00.
I ran most of the race with a couple other members of the group that I train with. It's always a good time running and spending time with them.
The weather turned out to be good. I was afraid that it was going to too warm, but it stayed pretty cool all race. There was some stiff winds at times, but not too bad.
As I have said in the past, I work for the Cincinnati Reds. During the broadcast of today's game Marty Brennaman gave me and the other Reds employees who ran a congratulatory mention. A friend of mine who lives in California was listening to the game and heard it. He immediately emailed me to tell me. Although Marty mis-pronounced my name, it was still pretty neat for him to bring it up.
Kathleen and Brennan were able to come out, so I was able to see them a couple of times during the race.
The Bad
I didn't qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. My time was 3:27:14. I missed it by twelve minutes.
My legs just didn't have it today. I knew pretty early in the race that it wasn't going to happen. I wasn't going to go down without a fight, but at mile 22 I walked for the first time. At that point I knew my race was over. I alternated walking and running for the final four miles. Sound familiar? Same thing happened in Boston.
The Ugly
Did anyone see that guy who ran in only an orange Speedo? He and I ran pretty close together for a time early in the race. I can't think of anything else that I would want to look at while running a marathon. I'm only kidding (if orange Speedo happens to read this). I'm sure he heard all kinds of interesting things while running in that get up.
Some final thoughts on the race... I don't think I will try to run two marathons in twenty days again. I have heard that humans are the only animal on the planet that will run twenty six miles at one time. All others will stop when they get tired. We are the only ones dumb enough to keep going. With that in mind, how many dumb humans will try to do it twice in three weeks?
Another thought after reflecting... From mile twenty two on I was pretty upset that I wasn't going to reach my goal for the race. About five minutes after the race was over, I was over it. I picked up Brennan and it didn't seem quite as important anymore.
Another positive... I believe that if I hadn't run a marathon so close to this one I would have re-qualified for Boston. I don't think my legs would have hurt so bad at mile twenty two and I think I would have finished stronger. So, I think if I just concentrate on one marathon per year that I should be able to reach my goals.
An apology... I owe Gina from Cin Weekly a big 'I'm sorry'. She happened to be standing on the race course at mile twenty two (give or take). When she saw me she grabbed her camera to take my picture for her blog. I had just started walking and it was at about that point I knew I wasn't going to run 3:15. I was pretty pissed off. I politely asked her not to take m
y picture. If I had seen her five minutes earlier I would have been much friendlier and willing to have the picture taken. Gina, I hope you understand.
Final thoughts on this year's training... Thanks to Jay, Chris, Mark, Eric, David, and especially Jim for another successful year. Mark and Jay, way to go on qualifying for Boston. One year we will all get it together.
Final thoughts on the Blog... I want to thank Gina and the rest of Cin Weekly for this opportunity. I had a lot of fun sharing my training with everyone. I was told that at times I probably said too much about my personal life, my past in particular. I just wanted everyone to have a clear picture of who I am and where I came from.
I hope that this blog was at times insightful, sometimes funny, and sometimes entertaining. Although I doubt it on all three.
Above all, I hope you took from this blog my love of running.
See you on the road!
Well, here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from today's race:
The Good
I was happy with my place in the race. I finished 334th. I'm not sure how many runners competed in the full marathon, but there were over 10,000 in the races today. I figured I finished somewhere around top 5% - 10%.
My pace was right on for most of the race. At the twenty-three mile mark I was still on pace to reach my goal of 3:15:00.
I ran most of the race with a couple other members of the group that I train with. It's always a good time running and spending time with them.
The weather turned out to be good. I was afraid that it was going to too warm, but it stayed pretty cool all race. There was some stiff winds at times, but not too bad.
As I have said in the past, I work for the Cincinnati Reds. During the broadcast of today's game Marty Brennaman gave me and the other Reds employees who ran a congratulatory mention. A friend of mine who lives in California was listening to the game and heard it. He immediately emailed me to tell me. Although Marty mis-pronounced my name, it was still pretty neat for him to bring it up.
Kathleen and Brennan were able to come out, so I was able to see them a couple of times during the race.
The Bad
I didn't qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. My time was 3:27:14. I missed it by twelve minutes.
My legs just didn't have it today. I knew pretty early in the race that it wasn't going to happen. I wasn't going to go down without a fight, but at mile 22 I walked for the first time. At that point I knew my race was over. I alternated walking and running for the final four miles. Sound familiar? Same thing happened in Boston.
The Ugly
Did anyone see that guy who ran in only an orange Speedo? He and I ran pretty close together for a time early in the race. I can't think of anything else that I would want to look at while running a marathon. I'm only kidding (if orange Speedo happens to read this). I'm sure he heard all kinds of interesting things while running in that get up.
Some final thoughts on the race... I don't think I will try to run two marathons in twenty days again. I have heard that humans are the only animal on the planet that will run twenty six miles at one time. All others will stop when they get tired. We are the only ones dumb enough to keep going. With that in mind, how many dumb humans will try to do it twice in three weeks?
Another thought after reflecting... From mile twenty two on I was pretty upset that I wasn't going to reach my goal for the race. About five minutes after the race was over, I was over it. I picked up Brennan and it didn't seem quite as important anymore.
Another positive... I believe that if I hadn't run a marathon so close to this one I would have re-qualified for Boston. I don't think my legs would have hurt so bad at mile twenty two and I think I would have finished stronger. So, I think if I just concentrate on one marathon per year that I should be able to reach my goals.
An apology... I owe Gina from Cin Weekly a big 'I'm sorry'. She happened to be standing on the race course at mile twenty two (give or take). When she saw me she grabbed her camera to take my picture for her blog. I had just started walking and it was at about that point I knew I wasn't going to run 3:15. I was pretty pissed off. I politely asked her not to take m
y picture. If I had seen her five minutes earlier I would have been much friendlier and willing to have the picture taken. Gina, I hope you understand.Final thoughts on this year's training... Thanks to Jay, Chris, Mark, Eric, David, and especially Jim for another successful year. Mark and Jay, way to go on qualifying for Boston. One year we will all get it together.
Final thoughts on the Blog... I want to thank Gina and the rest of Cin Weekly for this opportunity. I had a lot of fun sharing my training with everyone. I was told that at times I probably said too much about my personal life, my past in particular. I just wanted everyone to have a clear picture of who I am and where I came from.
I hope that this blog was at times insightful, sometimes funny, and sometimes entertaining. Although I doubt it on all three.
Above all, I hope you took from this blog my love of running.
See you on the road!
Neighborhood:
6 Comments:
WAY TO GO LANCE!! You still had a great time even though you didn't requalify for Boston...but 2 marathons in 3 weeks must be TOUGH! Not many people can say they've done that! Good job and whatever marathon you plan on running next, I hope you qualify! And maybe one day I'll see you at Boston.
About the blog...I really enjoyed everyone's blog! All 3 (well 4 of you) had different perspectives on running and I loved it! So, thank you for letting us into your "running world." You were definitely an inspiration because on of my lifetime goals is to make it to Boston...and I realized that I need to be a dedicated runner like you! So thank you for that realization! Good luck with any upcoming races and thanks again for all of your blogs!!! :)
~Jen
Good job Lance. Don't be to hard on yourself. Yeah you didn't qualify again but it was only because you just ran Boston. What is the sense of qualifying if you are not going to run it.
Best of luck. Happy Running!
Eric
Ohmygod, I saw Orange Speedo about four different times. I'm certain he thought I was stalking him. (And I did take several photos. I know you totally want one - look for that in your inbox soon!)
Man, I'm so jealous Marty mentioned you on the radio today. That's very cool.
And think of nothing of mile 22. I expect people at that point to be tired and weary and angry. It's mile 22! And you were disappointed. It sucks you didn't qualify, but you will again.
And if not, you could make a name for yourself doing something else - like wearing an Orange Speedo!
Juuust kidding!
Congrats! I saw the guy in the orange speedo also, I would love to get a photo of that...I dont think my friends beleive me!
Cheers,
Naashom
Congrats on a great race! I was bummed to hear you didn't qualify for Boston. You have a great attitude about it though - everything in perspective.
Thanks for the great blog posts. They were motivational, entertaining, and insightful. I enjoyed reading all of them. I hope you all get to do some follow-up posts. I'd love to hear how everyone is doing in the future. Anyone can reach my email through my blog. And, if you need some family photos...
Karen
P.S. One benefit to running slow...I never saw orange speedo.
Orange speedo? Yeah, that was me... but you dont hurt my feelings :o) I was up front running for a while, but I faded in the first few miles. I ran Louisville the week before and it took a lot out of me! Stunt runing is a lot of fun. seriously, try it sometime. its quite "freeing" :o) The chaffing isnt as bad as you might think!! good luck running Lance... more than likely, you'll see the guy in a speedo again... and again. Do you happen ot be going to Delaware in 2 weeks?
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