Forums >General Running>I've Lost That Loving Feeling...?
I think a lot of us are eagerly awaiting your report. I kind of hope you and several of us are wrong, and you have a great race and realize you love marathons. OTOH, if it's your farewell marathon, it's also a good thing, because you'll have a much better idea where you want to focus in the future. In any case, best of luck!
+1
In a way, I hope you (I mean, April) not to go through this marathon, thinking "this is my good-bye marathon..." but come back and "do it right" next time so you'll enjoy it and keep on running.
It is unfortunate, it seems, that you had come across a wrong approach to marathon training from the get-go. I happen to be one who believes that, if you can run 13-miles in training, you can go the distance of 26-miles. Far too many suffer from endless slog in training, week in week out and beat up their body and, run a marathon or two, and pack it up. Running is a lot more than that.
This woman e-mailed me a few years ago and I helped her husband through her. He had run 4 marathons prior to with a PR of 5:30. I altered their training--in fact, I altered it quite a bit--and the first time he actually e-mailed me the week of their marathon. He said that it was the first time he'd come this far (the week of the marathon) without aches and pains in his legs, beginning of injuries, etc. He went out and ran the marathon, with his wife, in 4:50. She sent me a picture of their finish, with a big smile on their face.
Consistently Slow
Run until the trail runs out.
SCHEDULE 2016--
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
Well, I just have to say, that I'm very impressed with your 10:25 pace for 18 miles based on your weekly mileage. Most people could not just go out and run 18 miles on that weekly mileage. So you definitely have natural running ability and whether or not you decide to run this full, you shouldn't give up on running
I like your plan of doing this one just for fun, then focusing on some shorter distances. I bet you will have fun seeing your times drop off in the shorter races as you add miles to your training Once you see those times start to drop...you may find the motivation to run another full with a goal time in mind and a renewed love for the sport.
You've gotten good advice here from the pro's as always!
So, did you do it?
Probably most people have had similar experiences. It's totally understandable, given all the life circumstances that have changed for you in the past year. I agreed with others who have said, why not just go to Portland and give yourself the option of not running the race? Make a trip out of it and see how you feel that day.
I recently met my goal of a PR for a 1/2 in 2012, completely unexpectedly. I was visiting family out of state and signed up for a race as a kind of warm up/test for the one I planned to go for a PR on. It was a cool morning, I had rested a lot (aka been lazy), it was a cool morning and it just happened. We can't understand the mind and easily get lost in the stuff of life.... but that serendipitous PR felt even better than if I had planned to do it. More than anything, what I felt during the race is that I was relaxed and didn't care about my time, and wasn't trying to PR. I just enjoyed the run.
Maybe you even had a similar experience yesterday?
2012: Just run.
not bad for mile 25
This is awesome to hear, April! Congratulations on overcoming your doubts, on doing it, on finishing, on setting a PR, and on knowing how you want to approach your future running*!
*Although I thought I swore off marathons right after my last one. Now it's, okay, just one more.
#artbydmcbride
Congratulations!
Runners run
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