26.2 Miles

It is done. Saturday was the day I have been training for since January. As with any run, I learned a lot. I have reasons to celebrate, and reasons to reflect; kind of a good news, bad news senerio. I will start with the bad news, because I like to end on a positive note.

Bad news
1) I did not make my goal time . I wanted to finish in 4:30, but finished in 4:34 instead. Not too much off, but still a little disappointing. I did not have my watch, so I wasn't sure how long I had run. I really thought I was closer to 5:00, so I was surprised when I got close enough to the clock to see my time. A watch may have pushed me a little more, because I would have seen how close I was and pushed a little further. Maybe.
2) This is my biggest cause for reflection. One time I blogged about one of the lessons running has taught me. (http:/running2learn.blogspot.com/reason-to-celebrate.html) Anyway, it is basically that I start too fast in everything I do, almost give up in the middle, and walk in the end. That is what happened in the race. I started way too fast. I may have had a PR in my half, if I would have been running a half. (Since I didn't have a watch, I don't know my exact time, but was on pace for under a 1:50 at mile 9.) Anyway, then about mile 20, I almost gave up. Don't get me wrong, I still intended to finish, but I thought I might walk the rest. I didn't walk the whole thing, but I couldn't go more than about 1/10 of a mile before I walked again. I kept telling myself, "You can run at least a mile before you stop," but instead, I would just stop and walk. Finally, about mile 23ish, I decided I need a system. The trail we were on was marked in .10, so I decided I would run .3, then walk .1. I finished this way. A couple times I even went a little more, and I finished. But, although I didn't walk the last 20 yards, my time goal was achieveable, but I let other things get in my way. I could and should have been able to reach it, but kind of gave up on myself in the middle. I need to understand why I give up on myself, and change it. I am worthy of reaching my goals and bettering myself, so why do I hold myself back. I didn't train quite as hard as I should have. Was there really not enought time, or was I setting myself up for failure? The things you learn about yourself when you run are enlightening.

Good
1)I finished! That is reason to celebrate in itself. I finished a marathon. Wow!
2) I got a PR. There is a good thing about being a little slower then expected, I can get a PR next time I run also. Looking forward to that!
3) I placed tenth in my age group. Not really too bad, better than half. I place 42nd in the women overall, still better than half! Yeah for me.
4) I had been hurt for the last two weeks, really bad the last week. I didn't even know if I would be able to run on Saturday. I was determined to do the race even if I had to walk. (I had already paid, and I put in too much time training.) I did not hurt my leg any worse, although it forced me to walk several times.
5)I finished a marathon! (Did I already mention that?) Wow!

So, the good outweigh the bad. I think the best thing was, I never once thought I would never run a marathon again. Instead, I thought about how I would change my training schedule to run better next time. Overall, it was one of those #2 days I blogged about before. (http://running2learn.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-i-run.html). I didn't quit. I can do hard things. I will do hard things. It is time to start training for my triathlon. Yeah! I love to ride!!! I will still be out running though, learning about myself on the road.

Now, my question for you...what have you learned about yourself from running? What great truths do you know about yourself because you run? How has running improved your life? Everything I need to know about myself I can learn from running. I will run tomorrow to improve me.