My Marathon Experience

I’ve never been much of a runner, but I’ve also never been one to give up on a goal I have set for myself. 

It was 2011, and I had just graduated High School. I had also just decided I would run a marathon.  I ‘ve been involved in athletics my whole life; playing baseball, football, and basketball for the majority.  Despite this, I highly doubt I had ever gone more than 4 miles in one run before.  26.2 miles seemed daunting, improbable, and challenging.  I love a challenge. 

I signed up for the September 11th 2011 Bozeman Marathon which was set up to honor those who had fallen 10 years prior. My training began 3 months in advance, and I slowly but steadily improved.   As my training progressed, my goals also progressed.  I now not only wanted to finish the marathon, I wanted to finish it in less than 3 hours.  My time per mile would have to be under 6 minutes and 52 seconds to accomplish this. 

With a month left to train, I realized I hadn’t actually been “training,” but rather just running sporadically.  I decided to do some quick research and came across multiple articles and templates that advocated for at least one long run before beginning a tapering process. The furthest I had run up until this point was 12 miles. A week later I set out early in the morning to try and go over 18 miles.

I ended up running just over 21 miles with an average mile time of 7 minutes and 2 seconds. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of this pace, and became quite confident that with some adrenaline and race-day motivation I could shave off the time needed to achieve a sub-3-hour marathon time. I was extremely excited and optimistic. I was also wrong.

The day after my 21 mile run I became severely ill.  The long run had completely overwhelmed my immune system.  The sickness was relentless and involved multiple days of puking, a high fever, and the inability to train. My planned taper turned into complete abstinence.  I managed to run twice during that three week period, once for 3 miles and once for 4.  Each of those runs left me completely exhausted.

These last two weeks before the run were also my first two weeks of College at the University of Montana. I spent the majority of those days lying in my dorm bed.

My parents and supporters told me there was always another marathon, always another opportunity. It would have been easy to agree, it would have been easy to take their advice, and it would have been easy to try another time.  I didn’t like easy.  I decided I would run the marathon anyway.

With the majority of my training completely lost, I shifted my goal once again to just finishing the marathon. I also added a stipulation of avoiding any walking at all cost. If I was going to “run” the marathon, then I was actually going to run it.

During my 21 mile run three weeks prior to the marathon, I didn’t “hit the wall.” I felt energized and in control the entire run.

During my marathon I hit the wall at mile 5. At mile 7 I had to walk through a water station for the first time, failing my goal. At mile 12 my parents told me that I could quit at any time and try again on another date. They told me they were proud and that I had done enough. They were 100% right and had my best interest in mind. But that also pissed me off. A deep fire was lit to prove them wrong. They had pushed the right button.

I almost quit multiple times, and the voice in my head became incredibly persuasive and equally logical.  But I didn’t quit, I couldn’t quit.

Excruciating cramps began in my legs around mile 18.  I hobbled, hopped, and “ran” with what must have been the most awkward looking form.  Each step was increasingly painful, but each step also brought me closer to my goal.

At mile 23 I passed my parents again. I attempted to run normally for the 70-80 yards I was in their view. That attempt was probably pretty poor, but they never mentioned it.

I finished the marathon much more slowly than I had set out to do.  I finished the marathon in a grueling 3 hours and 43 minutes. I FINISHED the marathon!  Complete bliss.

I learned a lot about myself that day. I learned about pain.  I learned about obstacles. I learned about perseverance.  But most of all I learned that I can achieve any damn thing I set my mind to.

Comments 99,534

  22. акции купоны скидки программа прогона по трастовым сайтам https://forums.digitalomaha.net/member.php?action=profile&uid=21519 скидка в эльдорадо промокод 2022 http://riyadhclick.blogspot.com/2014/05/districts-of-riyadh.html сайты с прогонами схем http://emkan.ru/dneva/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=53828

    бесплатный прогон сайтов по каталогам http://club.domir.ru/4749.html прогон по каталогам сайтов 2020 что это http://cshsm.ru/forum/messages/forum6/topic1174/message479876/?result=new#message479876 промокод твое на первый заказ скидку http://cqxdx.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=24288 прогон по трастовы сайтам

    seo продвижение сайта статьи сервис прогона сайта скачать качество фильмы на телефон бесплатно https://mncraftmods.ru/user/Murraypug/ прогон сайт по rss каталогом http://klotzlube.ru/forum/user/251193/

    форум по прогону сайтов сервис прогона сайта я https://www.mmo-spy.de/forum/thread,23292,1,kaufen-echten-fuehrerschein-https-echtedokumente-ch-https-legitdokumentera-se-oesterreich-fuehrerschein-ausweis-deutscher-fuehrerschein-aufenthaltserlaubnis-europa-dokumente-deutscher-fuehrerschein-ausweis-whatsapp-49176937836.html#p67238 прогон сайта по каталогам ссылок лайм промокод на скидку

    ускоренное индексирование закрытых страниц прогон сайта хрумером https://www.metal-tracker.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=927268988 прогон сайта по статьям http://bbs.darkml.net/home.php?mod=space&uid=7651757 прогон сайта зачем

    прогон по трастовыми сайтам сервисы по прогону сайта по каталогам http://yhhongyue.eicp.net/home.php?mod=space&uid=126438 в челябинске купоны скидки официальный https://www.fumankong1.cc/home.php?mod=space&uid=414164 мвидео промокоды купоны скидки

    открытых для индексации страниц http://drpetrov.com.ua/myasnye-burgery-i-shaurma-ot-meatgrinder-vkus-kotoryy-svodit-s-uma-1 форум статейный прогон рандеву купон на скидку http://kfaktiv.ru/top-5-knig-dlja-nachinajushhego-investora.html влияют ли прогоны на позиции сайта

    травелата промокод на скидку 2022 прогон сайта по профилям с бездепозитные бонусы деньгами игровые автоматы продвижение бренда статья http://orel-zelen.ru/

    четыре лапы промокод на скидку http://solaroptics.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=blog350.com/author/carrollilia/ прогон по каталогам сайтов что это такое http://solaroptics.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=remont-kvartiry-odessa.blogspot.com/2017/08/kopka-ogoroda-odessa-skolko-stoit-vskopat-sotku-ogoroda.html бесплатный прогона сайта по каталогам http://bodyrhythm.info/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bdsviethan.com/lille-from-france-closes-betting-partnership-with-1xbet-for-the-african-market/ ускоренное индексирование страниц яндекс http://rubber.ru/bitrix/redirect.php?goto=http://pornodrochka.club/user/Richardreado/

    http://terra-bashkiria.com/forum/?PAGE_NAME=profile_view&UID=126647 Мясные бургеры и шаурма от meatgrinder – вкус, кот https://gfycat.com/ru/@derbo2801 https://vedicologyindia.com/pags/casino-rocket-review-australia.html

    http://bydeluxe.online/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=filmkachat.ru/43-plakat-nelzja-press-pokaz-filma-2022-rossijskoj-dramy.html

    Reply

  41. Growing up in an Italian American home in the south of Italy,
    my mother always made liqueurs and great food – the BEST!

    I would often sit with my mom while she was busy
    preparing it all and without knowing, I
    would learn from her. The most popular liqueur my mom would make would be
    Limoncello. The same one her mother had taught her
    to make. It was a family favorite as it could be used as an aperitif or a digestive.
    In 2020 my mother was heartbreakingly taken from us by the pandemic that hit the
    world. For a long time after my mother’s passing
    I would think of how to continue and share her legacy.
    I often relived the special moments we had shared creating her famous traditional Limoncello … this is where
    Craft Limoncello started

    Reply

Join the Conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *