RaDragon

I ran a 5:30 marathon (5:29:26) and it only took a few years and some very annoying injuries! I would not recommend running a marathon anymore with little-to-no training, but in the interest of full disclosure, my longest mileage for this personal best-setting run was 12 miles of rolling hills! LOL

Also, my main goal for this marathon was to raise funds for a cause (Pancreatic Cancer Research) and I met that, as well. Go TEAM HERMAN!

“You’ll need stamina to finish.
What’s really impressive is the
courage it takes to start.”—Anonymous

I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2005; that same event where Deena Kastor won her first marathon. Days after the marathon, I posted an entry in my online journal outlining the trials that I encountered during the race. Here’s a preview of what I wrote:

The Start
We got to the start area a good 10 minutes before gun time. During this time, I took more snapshots to keep my mind off the daunting task of running a marathon… After the stretching and the Star-Spangled Banner, the Elite runners were off. About 20-minutes later, we finally started, hearing the “beep” from the timing chip that our start times have been recorded. It was very crowded—spectators and runners. Participants alone were claimed to be at 30,000+

Mile 1 to Mile 2
We started off well. We didn’t go too fast and took our walk break on schedule. We were doing a 8-1 interval (run 8 minutes, walk 1 minute) so despite the thick crowd, we were able to walk on the side safely and then get back up to run. Around mile 1.8 or 2, Vee had to go to the bathroom, so Myrna decided to wait for her while I sped off. That’s the last that I see of them until around mile 17. Gross fact: some guy runners were going to the side of the course to pee! Yuck!

Mile 3 to Mile 5
I felt fine. I did not get an accurate report on my pace from my GPS-enabled watch because of the buildings around me. They were towering high enough so that there was insufficient “space” for the watch to track any satellites. I was on my own to pace myself. I did check my watch at the 5K mark, and I thought that I PR’d it. (PR = Personal Record). Apparently, I didn’t; but this helped keep me positive because of the “good” record. I’m still cold, so I keep my “sheddable shell/paper jacket” on. I was also surprised that the course wasn’t really flat (by my standards). I had a good ways ahead of me and kept this in mind…

Please read the rest here

Tags: Chicago