The NYC Marathon was this past Sunday drawing tens of thousands of runners, including the famous. Actress Katie Holmes finished in 5:29:58, just a bit slower than the time it takes the average female marathoner to complete 26.2 miles. Lance Armstrong also ran and came in at 2:46:43. That’s about an hour and 46 minutes faster than the the average male finisher. Good grief that’s fast. I know, it’s Lance Armstrong, but still. Wow. I hope to come in somewhere between these two times when I run my first marathon. And though that’s a long way off (2009?) I believe I will be able to do it.
I began running 164 days ago, and this has been a consistently surprising and encouraging experience. My short run is now 5 miles, my long run is over 7 miles. I have a long way to go to meet all of my goals, but I am now confident that I will reach them. With all of the changes I am experiencing (physically and mentally) this is the most dramatic - confidence in what I can do physically. Dropping 5 inches around the waist (so far) is nice, losing 30 lbs feels great, but the optimism is much more critical to my long term running.
I have never been an athlete. Never competed, or even participated in school sports growing up. And cardio, running specifically, was something I loathed. So when I started running over 5 months ago I had little confidence in how things would progress, and every small accomplishment was a big surprise. While my progress still excites/encourages, it no longer surprises me. On my running blog I explained that I’m now a believer! I no longer wonder if I can do these things, only when they will happen. And while this optimism encourages me to try harder, it is not merely belief in self. This optimism is more of a combination of confidence in the way God has designed the human body (to run), and thankfulness for leading me to do this.
8 Comments
Joe,
You’re journey in this is very encouraging, brother. Out of curiosity, where did you get your running plan?
That’s supposed to be “your” journey. I hate it when I do that.
Brad,
I actually did not follow anyone’s plan. I did read a lot. I read four books right away, and a ton of periodicals and online articles. But while the vast majority of programs emphasize time over distance for the beginner, I went the opposite way. For me, it was better to focus on getting comfortable with increasing distances. 1 Block, 2 blocks, 1 mile, 2 miles, etc. So, at this point I run until I think I’m ready to bump it up.
When I start training for a half marathon in ‘08 I will follow someone’s plan, though I do not know which one yet.
That’s interesting. I was very active in school. Played football and basketball. I’ve done pretty well over the past two months, but I find myself being a little frustrated that I can’t run as fast and long as I did as a teenager. I think you starting out thinking you would do poorly, and I started out thinking the opposite. It turns out that we were both surprised.
Joe
Admiral goal in running … keep running. You had inspired me to get back to my running … and I began and worked up to two miles … then let off. On Oct 3 I had a heart attack and on Oct 4 I had a quadruple bypass … that was 5 weeks ago. I walked one mile today and again this evening. I will soon begin cardiac rehab with hopes of strengthing both the heart, body and soul. I want to get back in time to running, for now I walk. Keep running! - Bob AuBuchon
Good for you, keep it up! I never in my life thought I would ever run a marathon or even be a “runner”.. and then somehow I got into running… and before you know it, I’ve ran multiple marathons.. my best time was 3 hours 45 minutes. Keep running, it is all worth it! I guess my suggestions are dont try to compete with lance armstrong.. run your first marathon at a comforatable pace. Go a little slower than comfortable in the begining cause youll need all the energy you can get near the end, drink water at everystop (esp. the first stops) and I always walk through each stop as im drinking. definitely wear a shirt with you name on it so people will cheer you on by name (this is a huge help). wear tape on your nipples so you dont get chaffed nipples (im sure youve found this out on your longer runs) and for sure get a good anti-chaffing cream for your inner thighs.. i think monistat makes a teflon powder cream for women and it works great for men too. have a couple jolly ranchers in your pocket.. they are really awesome after 20 miles cause they give you a little sugar, they make you salivate so you dont get cotton mouth. have a great marathon!
Thanks Runner. Good advice and most of it I have read elsewhere. Glad to know it’s working for others. Of course I have no intention of competing with Lance - or anyone. This is one of the things I love about running. I run against myself. Thanks for commenting!
I’m surprised that Tom let her out of the house for more than 5 hours.