Marathon 2007 = Complete!

Hooray! My third marathon is done. It was a good experience overall. I didn’t train as much as I should have (will I ever feel satisfied with my level of training??) but the race went fine nonetheless. I didn’t beat my last marathon time but running for time hasn’t been a big part of my running personality. I was pleased with how much of the race I ran instead of walking – which is a measure I use more than time to check success.

So now, which race is next? I haven’t decided yet because the memory of the last race training is still too fresh. The training for these marathons is pretty exhausting and mentally draining since there’s so much recalculating going on everyday. For example, should I run today or not? How far should I run today? Is it ok to skip my long run this weekend and push it to next weekend? If I get out there and it’s a bad run, how far will I force myself to go before calling it quits? What route should I choose for my next long run? What’s the weather supposed to be like for the next several weekends? If I miss a Saturday run, should I do it Sunday and go to late church or skip class to do it Monday? All these decisions are hard for me… and all the guilt that follows the choice is even more difficult to bear.

This is why I love half marathons so much. The training isn’t as intense and mentally draining. The race is long enough to feel accomplished but short enough to run without too much effort (that’s not the right word) or strain. So we’ll see where I go from here. For now, I’ll wait to see which race Annee decides to do next and I’ll probably join in. I wish I could find a good running group to train with.

On Sunday after the race I was quite sore and stiff. When I drove back to Provo from St. George I went straight to my sister’s house because I remembered the elevator at my apartment complex was broken when I left on Friday. I was worried that I would not physically be able to walk up 5 flights of stairs to my apartment so I thought I’d wait it out at Sarah’s! On Monday when I woke up I felt much better but I was still pretty sore.

I was late leaving for school on Monday but was pretty proud that I was going to my 8am class at all! If I don’t leave by 7:40am I know I will not be able to get a parking spot in what I call “the business corner” (which is really a Y-lot positioned closest to the Tanner Building in which I have all my classes). Nonetheless at 8:20 when I got to the lot I decided to drive through it just in case. Imagined how happy I was when the #1 spot in the lot was empty!! You can’t get any closer than that spot! So lucky!!

I doubt walking the extra 100 yards from a different spot would have killed me but it was a nice little blessing for my sore legs and ankles.