Never Say Never
Never Say Never
Well, it’s been 3 years since I ran my first full 26.2 mile marathon in 2007. And even though I said I would never run another full marathon, and the past two years I’ve been perfectly satisfied to run the half marathon, the time I’ve spent writing my book about training for and running my first marathon really got me considering running the full marathon again.
Experience is a great educator, and I realized that there were a lot of things I did wrong in my first one. Such as starting out too fast in my delusional fantasy of running a 4 hour marathon, when I have never run that fast before, ever!
And there were a bunch of things I could have done better, such as training in hot weather, and incorporating a strength training program into my workouts.
But most of all I’m planning on running another marathon simply because I just want to prove to myself that I can have a really great marathon experience from the running aspect of things. I struggled with the heat and some physical issues from not realizing that my body was out of alignment.
The reason I’m even considering a full marathon again is because I had such a wonderful experience with the whole process the first time around: from the training runs with my good friend Vickie, to the wonderful support from my partner, friends, and family, to the awesome celebratory dinner afterwards at the Lolo Creek Steakhouse.
But most of all, it was the Missoula Marathon itself! It was an incredible experience for me, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. In fact, Run Wild Missoula does such a fantastic job of pulling together such a phenomenal race experience for the runners, that it was named Runner’s World Magazine’s Reader’s Choice 2010 as Best Overall Marathon! How’s that for a great reason to run it again?
So with some new challenges to face this year as I train and prepare, like having to use my white cane more, and my work schedule shifting as I coordinate the logistics of working a new job, I am still more than ready to put in the miles to get me to the finish line healthy and with a huge smile on my face!
Ready to Run?
How ’bout it?
-Vision Runner
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