 |
| My Coach Sarah |
I’ve been waiting, and training very hard for this
race. We arrived early and
experience nearly non-existent traffic, especially for a race that had over
24,000 runners!
 | |
| Pastor Todd Marple |
The first 13.1 miles you run around all the
momunents…excellent, exciting, almost surreal…I really didn’t embrace the
beauty of this like I should have.
I didn’t even notice the capital until my return trip. Crazy…I was focused, maybe a bit too
focused!
 |
| There they go!!! The start of a long day... |
2 - 7:01 – Felt great caught corral
1…keep pushing forward Mistake #3.
3 - 6:48 - Slight downhill – Ran way to fast should have reserved the
energy. Mistake #4
4 - 7:05 – Miles 3.75 – 7.35 was all
uphill. 200ft elevation gain and I
continued to run faster then my goal pace MISTAKE #5!
5 - 7:36 - At mile five I knew I was running too fast, I kept looking
at my watch and I was somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:05 pace…I KNEW already. I also believe this is when some of the
negative self-defeating thoughts starting sneaking in (Mistake #6…”You can’t
keep up this pace for 26.2 miles”! So I told myself real in the pace a bit…slow
it down, you have a long way to go…
 |
| Thinking about Dad! |
7 - 7:36 – The next three miles
are all downhill, I coasted, but was already pretty invested after pushing too
fast up those hills. I did sit
back and enjoy these miles, I felt amazing, but I am still running too fast!
Mistake #8!
8 - 7:21 – Just coasting
9 - 7:13 - Too
fast, but very surreal mile for me here…as I turn the corner around 9.35 the
capital is right there.
Beautiful. I can’t help but
think about how much my Dad would love seeing this…Very enjoyable mile!
10- 7:11 – UPHILL mile??? What? Why am I pushing so hard up the
hills? Mistake #9 but at this point I am thinking this is going to be the race
of all races! I am starting to get
excited because I know I am going to see my wife soon at or around mile 12.
 |
| Feeling Great! |
12- 7:38 – all up hill, actually one of my better miles of the race! Maybe the smartest mile of the entire race!?!?! Plus a huge pick me up because at 12.5 I got to see my coach, biggest supporter, and wife Sarah! That ALWAYS is a major boost!!! I want to publically say here, I couldn’t accomplish any of these miles without her love and support.
 |
| Cathy Ran a SUPERB race! |
13- 7:31 - I was wondering how awesome this race could have been if I had just run the half…would it have been my first sub 1:30? Lots of questions on this mile…
Half Split 1:36
SHOULD HAVE BEEN 1:40 Biggest
mistake of the day! Don’t
underestimate those 4 minutes!
14- 7:27 -
The déjà vu mile…exact same mile as mile #1! 8 seconds slower this time…but it
felt great!
15- 7:00 –
Heading down to the water front, I remembered last year at this point, and said
this is the best I have EVER felt at this point…looks to me like instead of
doing what I know to do, “if you feel good, don’t pick it up” I did the
opposite? 2nd fastest
mile of the race…Mistake #? I also
started thinking of how much pain I was in the last year, & so the demons
in the head start. They say you
can’t race another marathon until you’ve forgotten your last…I think I now know
what they mean!
16- 7:42 –
I enjoyed this mile…some of my favorite songs came on the ipod. Our God is
Alive by Andy Cherry & Changed Forever by Toby Mac, last week I bought this
song for my girls and it made me think so much about them and how much our
lives have changed for the better over the past five years! I think this was my favorite mile of
the entire race…including mile 26!
17- 7:45 - Beautiful mile, my body is starting to
question my head…at this point I began to know I was going to be in for a
fight.
18- 7:53 –
I see the bridge…I remember the bridge
19- 8:00 - 18-19 Running the bridge is tricky, the metal grates are not easy
to navigate but I remember thinking, wow lots better then last year, I am still
thinking I can push through at this point!
20- 8:17 – long boring mile, gotta make a
decision you only have 10k left after this…climb it…climb it!
21- 8:43 - Man I am stupid!
22- 9:24 - ALL UPHILL FROM 22 – 26 and don’t be
fooled these hills are beasts!
23- 9:48 –
You can still PR…voices in the head, it’s ok to walk…ALL my energy is gone, the
only other time I felt this way was during my first half-ironman!
24- 10:35 - I
am done! I walk run the next two
miles and am incredibly disappointed in myself, my performance, and the
outcome.
25- 10:48 - Who
cares if you run a Sub 3:30 at this point…
26- 9:43
– decent mile, I ran it, or maybe it SHOULD be called JOGGED it!
Between 26 – 26.2 I started to cramp for the first time…Felt
like everything was going to seize up, but it made me run that much harder, the
crowd went nuts which was the first time this ever happened to me at the
finish.
Finish 3:31:48, 281st overall…
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be” I thanked God at that moment because my answer to both was YES!!! In the face of discouragement, and disappointment, it was one of the most satisfying moments of my life…
A day of mistakes was redeemed by the God that transformed my life!
I pray your life isn't dependent on your success as a runner, or any thing else you can do. We find fulfillment only through Jesus Christ! God loves us all very much...Don't get me wrong, I am already re-focused, re-evaluated, re-goaled & ready to rock my next marathon, but that isn't my source of happiness and joy, only God is!
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