2 Days from Big Cottonwood

A really crazy work week has helped keep my mind off the marathon on Saturday.  The weird weather has also limited my running the last few days.  The last two weeks have been my worst training weeks of the program.  My last really good run was a few weeks ago when we ran Mount Lemmon.  Taking a couple days off before and after the Mount Lemmon run really messed with my routine.  It took me a long time to get into the groove of getting up at 4:00 or 4:30 to run, and it really felt nice to be able to sleep in.  The weather is still too hot to put in any decent mileage in the evenings.  I usually hate tapering, but it really wasn’t an issue this time (It has been less of a taper and more of an all-stop).  I felt reasonably good today at cross country practice, even though the heat and humidity were brutal.

We fly out early on Friday morning.  I don’t have any major time goals for the race.  I would love to hit 3:40, but will be satisfied with anything under 4:00.  If I get under 4:00 and can resume a normal running schedule fairly soon after the race I will be happy.

As I approach my first PR attempt of my “Fall of PR’s”, I have started thinking about the races in which I reached my current PR’s.  So before each race I think I will review the old race.  As I have been thinking about the races I have found that many have come at major turning points in my life.

My current PR for the marathon is from my first and only road marathon.  In January of 2010 I ran the PF Chang’s Rock N Roll Marathon in 4:05:18.  It was the first time in about 7 years that I had trained with any seriousness.  I had been running consistently for about 6 weeks when I decided to train for the full marathon.  I had reduced my karate training and teaching schedule and needed something to challenge me.  I still remember that first 7 mile run of the training program.  It was one of the worst runs of my life.  It was much harder than the 20 miler I was to face at the end of the program.  I contemplated abandoning the whole idea, but I managed to put in another week and finish an 8 miler the next week fairly easily.  Once I get a few long runs into a training program, I feel I have invested so much I don’t want to waste that effort.  I followed Hal Higdon’s Beginner Program and for the first time actually made it to a marathon starting line.  The race itself was fantastic for the first 20 miles.  I stayed with the 3:50 group up until that point, but my knee suddenly locked up.  I pretty much hobbled the rest of the way, frustrated because besides the knee I felt pretty strong.  It was still an amazing experience, but it took me about 4 months to get to where I could run without any pain.

That marathon is a bittersweet memory.  Two weeks after the race my father passed away from cancer.  My mom told me that Dad wouldn’t let me know about his condition until after my race, because he didn’t want me to stop training or be distracted.  Training for that race had given me the confidence that I could handle anything.  The strength I discovered through my running allowed me to be there for my dad in his last days.  I’m not sure I would have been capable of the meaningful moments were able to share at the end if I hadn’t been in such a good place myself at that time.  Not to be able to run following my fathers death was difficult.  I don’t think I really was able to process my own grief until I was able to get back to running a few months later.

I have always been a results oriented person.  The idea that the journey was more important than the destination never rang true to me.  I think my marathon training for both of these races have helped me focus on enjoying the process and letting go of my attachment to the results.

Here is a link if you are interested in receiving live updates of the race on Saturday:

http://www.runrevel.com/bcm/track?a=6352046731034624