101
According to my (current, and third) Nike+ sensor, I’d put in exactly 100 workouts while training over the past 5 months … 78 hours logged and over 550 miles run.
Workout 101? Sunday, May 3 at the 2009 OC Marathon. Results? I finished in 4:00:11 — just 11 seconds shy of my goal of finally breaking the 4-hour mark at one of these epic, leg crushing events. And after this training season, and with 3 of these suckers under my belt, I think I’m OK admitting to myself that I’m just a 4-hour marathon kinda guy. I did manage to set a PR (personal record) by about a minute … and my I was a full minute under my goal pace at the 1/2 marathon mark.
See? That’s me at mile 12. Looking happy and strong!
Even at mile 20 I was still well on track to hit my goal. Those last 6 miles are truly punishing for me though. This is me at mile 25:
The guy in front of me looks possessed … I look happy but beat.
I’m sure I could have found 11 seconds out there somewhere. Still, I’m content, for now, to focus on 10-Ks and 1/2 marathons. I’m proud to have run 3 marathons … and who knows? Maybe the bug will bite me again someday. For the time being, I’m excited to have my Sundays back.
Some acknowledgments:
My buddy / colleague / boss Todd “Tungsten” Northcutt is the whole reason I ran this race. He completed his very first marathon on Sunday, and did so in spite of phenomenal, near-crippling leg cramps. He has more guts than most people I know. Todd caught the running bug a few years back, and has been a major inspiration to me ever since. We’ve done training runs together in all sorts of places (San Francisco, Austin, Orange County), and he’s always finding new tools to help track our runs, be it DailyMile, or Nike+ or his Garmin Forerunner watch. After I’d run 2 marathons while watching him put in more total miles than me (but not committing to the big race), I finally told him: pick a race, and I’ll run it with you. He called my bluff, and late last year, we both signed up for OC and started training in earnest. I always looked forward to coming into the office Monday mornings to swap stories about our increasingly long Sunday runs. I’ll be forever grateful to him for pushing me to test — and extend — my limits. Here’s hoping we have many more stories to swap about miles earned.
My wife Katie put up with my ridiculous training schedule — which, for the last 2 months or so, has meant losing me for most of every Sunday to long runs. The last 5 weeks, I’d literally be gone running for 2-3 hours, after which I’d often be a total zombie. Katie never complained, and always seemed genuinely interested in how my runs went when I returned, covered in sweat-salt and trail dust. On top of that, she rallied my parents and came out Sunday morning to watch me run, coordinating the best spots to watch me go by and cheering like a maniac when I popped into view. She even organized a small lunch for us and Todd’s family, along with Marla (Todd’s equally patient and supportive wife). Running feels like a very solitary sport — but, paradoxically, you can’t do it alone. Or, at least, I’d never want to do it without Katie as my “support team.”
My parents came out Sunday to finally see me run — and seeing them cheer me on with Katie really lifted me up. They’ve been hearing me blather on about my workouts for years now (after watching me run and coaching me through high school track and cross country), so it was really gratifying to finally have them out there on the course, rooting me on. I live to make you guys proud. Thank for being there!
Of course we support you. I experienced two, sometimes conflicting, emotions on Sunday: My heart swelled with pride, while aching at the sight of you in discomfort. I guess that is just what mothers feel.
way to go!