Lessons from My First Marathon

I can't say that running the Napa Valley Marathon was a great experience. If anyone tells you that, s/he is lying. Running a marathon feels terrible, no matter how prepared you are for it. By the end, you are tired and hurt in places you didn't know you had. As I passed the 26 mile marker, I was really thinking, "I've gone far enough. I don't REALLY need to run another 0.2 miles...if only all those people weren't standing there watching and cheering at me. I guess I'll keep going; quitting now would be pretty embarrassing." Seriously, shame was the only thing that made me run the last few yards. But as you cross the finish line and realize what you've accomplished, all those aches and pains suddenly seem a minor inconvenience. It's an adrenaline and endorphin rush bigger than any runner's high.

All in all, NVM was a good experience. I think it's an excellent choice for a first marathon. It's small (just over 2000 entries) and well-organized, and the course has just enough rolling hills to keep your interest but no major summits to peak. I also liked the fact that there was no timing on the course because it prevented me from obsessing over my pace and allowed me just to stay in the zone.The scenery was beautiful, as the course winds down a rural highway flanked by vineyards. City slickers really enjoyed that feature. One guy was excitedly pointing up a hill and telling me to look at the deer; it turns out that what he saw was actually a horse, but I didn't feel like bursting his bubble.

Unfortunately, as I live in a similarly rural, agricultural area, the beauty of the scenery could not make up for the tunes that were missing from my run. That's right, no headphones allowed or risk disqualification. Some runners risked it, but I wasn't about to run 24 miles only to be discovered and kicked off the course (I've got a vivid, catastrophic imagination, I guess). The other downside to being in such a remote area was that the cheering squads were few and far between. Unlike urban races, where you run through neighborhoods and have encouragement all the way, you could run down Silverado Highway for a mile or two before coming to the next crossroad where a few family members were waiting for their favorite runner to pass.

Overall, I learned that this type of race requires a lot of self-coaching and discipline. It's really easy to walk or give up entirely when you have so little to help keep you moving. The first 6 miles felt like they took forever. The next 16 miles or so, I was cruising. But mile 22 was my wall and the point that everything hurt and I didn't want to go on. Without distractions, it was too easy to focus on the pain. Around that time, I started obsessively trying to refresh my memory of anatomy of the lower extremity to figure out what obscure thigh muscle was bothering me. Nonetheless, I finished. I guess this is one time when my stubborn nature was an asset.

Where do we go from here? Well, San Francisco for the SF Marathon on July 25, of course!. I already checked to make sure that my trusty iPod could run with me. Another key to my next big run: new shoes. For NVM, I put off buying new shoes, even though I knew my old ones were wearing out (I was afraid I wouldn't have time to break them in by the time I got around to thinking about it), and I paid for it with a lot of foot and back pain. My plan this time is to get new shoes about 3 weeks before the race and break them in slowly. I also hope to be a little more relaxed about my training schedule. It basically dominated my life for the winter, and I've simply got too much to do this spring to allow that to happen again. The great news is that the days are longer and the weather, I hope, will dry out to facilitate nice outdoor runs in the evening. I'm optimistic that my long Sunday mornings on the treadmill are a thing of the past.

Anyone wanna run across the Golden Gate Bridge with me?

Update

Yes, finally...I'm back. It's been a busy few months, and I was feeling overwhelmed by the thought of trying to get the blog caught up, but I've decided just to start from scratch. To summarize, in the new year, I've run two big races--the Birmingham (AL) Half Marathon in February, followed by...drum roll please...the Napa Valley Marathon in March. I'm proud to say that I survived my first full marathon nearly unscathed, with the exception of a monster blister on my left big toe. It was definitely a test of my will. The feeling of accomplishment was amazing, enough to compel me to register for the San Francisco Marathon at the end of July. Of course, once the elation wore off, I felt sore and tired and not too motivated to start running again. I'm already behind schedule for SF training, but I'm feeling more positive now that I finally got my first double-digit (12 mile) run in since Napa. More thoughts on marathoning to come.