Four times More: Columbus Marathon 3:28:43

This is Vin and I before the Columbus Marathon. Last weekend, we traveled to Columbus so that I could do something that I never ever anticipated myself doing...running a marathon. I kind of unknowingly began training when I starting running with my friend April over the summer. April had already signed up for the Chicago marathon and before I realized it, I had already completed 9 weeks of the training. Of course the 1st 9 weeks isn't really the most difficult part, but then I figured since I had already done 1/2 the training I might as well go ahead and run one...maybe the desire to do it would come later.

I arbitrarily picked a goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon or a time of 3:45. That seemed doable but when it came to race day I was afraid of not even making it to the finish. My training had a few bumps, first there was the fact that I missed one of my two 20 mile long runs. I had pulled an ab muscle from running with the jogging stroller that consisting pulls to the left. That cost me a week of training. Then I ran the downtown doubler road race, which was 18 miles of torture. I felt terrible, and was nearly delirious the last 2 miles. That shot my confidence for finishing 26, especially since that 18 miles was my longest run prior to the marathon. Adding to the pressure was the fact that April did so well in her Chicago marathon. On race day, I just decided to take it easy and get myself across the finish line.

Of course, the weather was perfect and with all the people I really didn't even realize how fast I was running. I planned to stick to 8:00 pace, but without even realizing it I was running way under that and I felt great. Until 23 miles later. But even that was ok because I knew I'd "hit the wall" eventually and with only 3 miles to go, I eventually made it in. Kyle was there cheering for me and jogged along with me for a short distance around the place that my legs just quit running...with 5K to go. I heard some spectator, a man, yell "Only 5K to Go!". That was it! My legs went into slow-mo with that. I know it was totally mental because I was doing fine until I realized there were 3 miles to go! From that point on it was a struggle, but when I made it to the 1/2 mile point, I found the strength to sprint to the finish.

Overall it was a great experience. I got to see some beautiful parts of Columbus. There were lots of people to see along the way and over 80 bands to listen to. The water stops had awesome volunteers to encourage the runners and I just kept thinking positively and I made it through. Will I do it again? I don't know. April and I really wanted to go to Boston, but it filled up in just 8 hours. If I get the chance to do it next year, that will probably be the end of my marathon career. A week after finishing, I'm still sore..plus I've been sick all week and my toes look like they belong on a dead person. It's funny because I proclaimed that I was going to treat myself to a pedicure after this was over. Now, I'd be highly embarrassed to walk into a salon with my nasty looking toes. Oh well! It's over and I'm proud of what I never thought I could accomplish.