I'm not sure how to start this. I completed my first marathon in Austin, TX on Sunday, February 16, 2020. For me, that's a pretty big deal. It's a goal that has really been at least 20, maybe 30 years in the making. I don't really want to talk about that though. I want to talk about training for and completing my first marathon. It was scary and exciting and the most amazing experience. I got to spend 4 days in my absolute favorite city. And then I got to run to my first marathon there. It meant a lot to me. I started training in October (I think) with a plan to complete a marathon sub five hours. Throughout the process I did see my pace go down from around 11:30 to around 10:00. Austin is hilly and other athlete's that have run it before told me it's a hard race so I feel proud, despite not quite meeting the time goal I set for myself. I did NO hill work until the last three weeks and that wasn't the best way to train, but with where I live and the limited time and roads that I have it is what it is.
I started by refusing to commit until I was at least partially convinced that I could be successful. So around November, I finally signed up for the marathon. And I trained. I didn't always get in all my weekday runs, but I got in every single long run. And those are the important runs from what I understand. I had a 16 week plan and I probably started at least four to six weeks earlier because I knew I'd miss some Saturday runs. And I was right. So my first long run over a half marathon was completed. And then sixteen miles and then eighteen and then twenty. And I had serious conversations with myself when I didn't get that eighteen in one weekend. If I didn't get it done, I was going to be going down to the half. And so somehow that worked and I got it done. And then I somehow got in my twenty mile long run. And so I was ready. I had prepared myself and I was ready.
But I was still nervous. Because this is a marathon. This is something I've wanted to do for decades, but never felt I had the ability to do. And here I am training for it. And on Sunday, there I was DOING it! I probably started too fast. It's hard not too. I probably should have gone slower up the hills and conserved my energy. I probably should have been careful about running down the hills. I imagine that or a possible slip earlier is why at about mile twenty I started to feel some tension in my left knee to the point that I had to reach down and rub some soreness.
But I persisted. I did! I had to walk the last five miles. And it was hard to walk them because I wanted to run and because my knee at that point was a serious issue. But I did it. If you are running a marathon and you're knee hurts, I suggest maybe considering bowing out. What I did is not a recommendation. On the other hand, I walked it. I knew better than to try to run because that could have done serious damage. And so for mile 21 I walked and it was LONG. And for mile 22 I walked and it was LONG. And for mile 23 I walked and it was LONG. And for mile 24 I walked and it was LONG. And for mile 25 I walked and it was LONG. And for mile 26, finally mile 26 I walked and it was long, especially when the end of the last mile was UPHILL. But I did it! I persisted! I didn't give up. And I completed my first marathon in my favorite city, Austin, TX. I finished in 5:52 minutes and some change because I had to walk the last five. And I'm not happy with that ending time. I'm convinced I could have finished in a minimum of 5:30 or sooner if I could have run. BUT I'm still proud because this is my first marathon. I did it! Something I wasn't sure I could ever do and I did it!
I don't believe you can necessarily do ANYTHING you set your mind to because we all have different strengths and abilities. But I do believe you can do ALMOST anything you set your mind to if you really want it. So I'm proud of myself and I hope if anyone reading this has a dream that isn't completely outside of reach, that you go for it. I think it's very possible.
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