It is finished!

I'll have Karen do a cuter blog entry on our family blog but for now here are the boring facts without pictures.
1) I am never running a marathon again - it hurts - a lot!
2) I came 17th out of 1500 runners which I am very pleased with
3) My time was 3 hours 38 minutes and 35 seconds.
I was flying for the first 2 hours in sub zero temperatures. I ran the first 16 miles easily under 2 hours. Every mile after that was brutal - particularly mile 21-25. The only time I stopped was at the water stations after mile 20. I would down 2 full cups of gatorade and stretch my hamstrings for 10 seconds and then start running again. I managed to avoid the SEVERE temptation to walk. I have never felt so much pain and I wanted to give up so badly. Had Karen not been there cheering me on I would have thrown in the towel long before the finish. I was surprised that after only 5 weeks of training that only 16 people managed to beat me and most of those were young guys so I am happy but sore. This was a major accomplishment for me but I never want to do it again. Thanks to my gorgeous wife for her dedicated support in the freezing cold and to Alisha for looking after our kids!

20 miles and beyond

It's only been 4 days since my last long run but I was feeling it this morning and after eating about 6000 calories on Christmas day I felt like I needed to burn some calories. This was the best run yet and I feel like I can conquer the world. I ran over 20 miles and finished in 2 hours 27 minutes. The best part is that I felt like I could have gone further. Here are some things I tried to do differently. First of all I had a specialty breakfast - pancakes made by Mimi with a secret ingredient. Secondly I bought some Gatorade from the shop along with one of those energy shot drinks - now usually I'm morally opposed to these as they are usually laden with caffeine but desperate times call for desperate measures. I carried a small bottle of Gatorade with me as I ran and planted another one that I could pick up 8 miles in. I also took a banana and a snickers to replace the calories I would burn during the first 14 miles. It worked a treat and I felt great until mile 18 and I wasn't totally finished. I am now full of confidence and can't wait for the real deal. I get one more long run now - probably Saturday which will be my last run before race day.

this is getting old

I set out determined to beat 16 miles today and there were positives and negatives. I managed 18.5 miles in 2 hours 17 minutes which is fast, especially given the weather but I stopped short of my goal of 20 miles. There must have been a 40 mph head wind for the first 10 miles - it was disgusting and painful and although I was only going slow it felt like I was sprinting the whole time. The good news is that all the way home I had a 40mph tail wind which is just what you need when you are feeling tired. I took a banana in my pocket to eat half way and even carried some water. Didn't like the extra weight but realized that I MUST hydrate more regularly. I have one more long run before the big day and I'm hoping to manage 20miles. I recently watched a Biggest Loser special where a former contestant ran an iron man triathlon and it really inspired me. I have been doubting myself lately as to whether or not I can finish 26.2 miles without walking. I have always been able to push through the pain barrier on other challenges in my life but this one is bigger than I ever imagined. 24 hours later my muscles, joints and particularly my knee that I had surgery on are quite sore so I can't imagine what I'll be like after january 10th but it will be a big accomplishment to start off the new year!

The Wall

I set out on Saturday determined to run 20 miles. I slowed my pace slightly to accommodate the extra 4 miles and felt great up until about 14 miles in. The weather was perfect and it should have been great. I even ran past President Schmidt (our stake President) who also is training for a marathon. As 16 miles approached I knew I was finished and simply couldn't take a step further at running pace. I walked the last couple of miles and I'm feeling very nervous about the big day. For me, running 16 miles and jog/walking the last 10 is just not acceptable. I am in good shape and would feel like a failure if I didn't destroy 4 hours for the whole thing but right now the reality is that the marathon is in a few weeks and I can't even get passed 16 let alone 26.2 miles. Some of my friends have given me some great ideas that I hope will help and assured me that on the day with people cheering, my adrenalin will be pumping and I should be fine. I can't help however feeling a little discouraged. I have overcome mountains like these before but fear I may not have given myself enough time to prepare. Note to self - next time you want to run a marathon give yourself more than 5 weeks to prepare.

Goal met - finally!

Today was the first time I managed to run 16 miles - it hurts. Can't believe a marathon is 10.2 miles on top of that. I finished in 2 hours and 30 seconds and managed to pull that of largely due to 3 reasons:
1. I ate a big meal 2 hours before
2. Temperature was nice - about 56 degree
3. I paced myself better rather than sprinting at the start
Not looking forward to next week - 18 miles....uggh

Another disappointment

Put in another 12 miler today after school. It was probably too much after playing soccer with the boys for over an hour but I tried it anyway. It was below 47 degrees again and I had not eaten in 8 hours. I will not make this mistake again. My body can not cope. I managed to finish this time in a disappointing 1 hour and 32 minutes, a full 11 minutes off my best. I'll make up for it on Saturday with a strong 16 miler! On a brighter note - my wife is delicious and I adore her!

Not just a running blog

What does this picture have to do with me running a marathon? Well I thought this would be a very boring blog if all it talked about was my marathon preparations so I am going to start treating this as my general blog. This picture was taken literally 30 minutes after I finished a 12 miler. It was the day after my last failure so I was out prove something to myself. I actually ran like a beast and completed the run in 1 hour 21 minutes - that is flying. Afterwards we went to a great ward activity - dinner and a dance and then back home to watch a movie. I love hanging out with my wife and she is such a babe as you can tell!