On the eve of a marathon.

It is my first attempt at a marathon.  I think this is a good time for some reflecting. 

It started with 7 minutes. 

We were in Del Rio, TX just after Christmas in 2011.  Sarah and I had taken to riding bikes in Boise because the green belt was right there on the edge of the RV park. We impressed ourselves by getting up to a 10 mile bike ride. But, in Del Rio, bike riding meant dodging drivers on narrow, pot hole filled roads.  It just wasn't fun or really safe.  So we languished. 

Then a girl at work, Julie DuPlessis, ran the San Antonio marathon.  It got me thinking.

Maybe I could do that.

I have always had something of an ambivalent relationship to running.  My attitude was, if you have to run, you should have left earlier.  I had to run for high school athletics and boot camp and the like, but I hated it.  I think it was that hate that led me to decide to do it.  I mean, if I hate it that bad, it must demonstrate a weakness.  You don't ignore the weakness, you fix it.  So I decided to run.  Back in high school wrestling, we ran for 7 minutes our first day back from summer.  It was agony.  But it was nothing compared to the agony that awaited me.  I smoked for 19 years and quit in 2004.  I had no real cardiovascular conditioning. 

So I laced up an old pair of work shoes just after Christmas in 2011 (because New Year's resolutions are for suckers) and I ran for 7 minutes.  I thought I might literally die.  My lungs burned, my legs wobbled, my head throbbed and I staggered back, but I made it.  I covered a distance of just under half a mile. 

According to my run logging software, I have run 354 miles in training for tomorrow.  Oh what a difference a couple of years makes. 

So, let's call it.  On the advice of a random internet article I read, I selected three goals for the race.   I have a goal, this is the focus of the day, this is what it is all about.  That goal is to finish.  My secondary goal is the goal that I would like to accomplish.  Not my main goal, but it would be great if I beat 4 hours.  My third one is if everything goes right and race day magic is in effect, I can accomplish my third goal of beating 3:50. 


I am anticipating 4:15.  I will be happy with 4:30. 

We are in a hotel and I don't have access to all my normal stuff, so I will have to do the full, post-race blog post with pictures later. 

Wish me luck.