Being a newbie, both types of blogs appealed to me. The other first timers validated how I was feeling and picked me up when I was down. The "pros", those silly enough to run the marathon over and over again... gave me hope that I too, would fall in loving with pushing my body to the extreme endurance.
Some of the blogs I followed were not able to finish their marathon due to injury. It literally BROKE MY HEART to read that they had stress fractures or real fractures and in one case.... multiple ones. I cried with them, secretly grateful that I would have the opportunity to race. Some of the racers finished the marathon, but did not reach their goal. Most of their race reports were still upbeat, but ended with the inevitable unclaimed goals paragraph. Some finished, but were in SO MUCH PAIN, they doubted they would EVER race a marathon again.
Here in the blog world, we vent and complain... and up until this point, I enjoyed it. After all, I am a HUGE complainer and venter (like I spent 3.5 hours in the salon for what I thought was going to be a simple hair cut and walked out "transformed", only to not have a single person in my house notice - ugh).
But now that I am feeling lazing about today being Day 1 of a 3 day REST period before my marathon, I WANT TO READ SOME GOOD NEWS!
PLEASE, share with me your positive experiences from your marathons. I like that some of you have actually run MCM, so you have given me great advice... (and before one more comment on my Boo post - I am NOT trying to PR in the last 3 miles of my marathon... I was just thinking out loud).
Remember, my goals are:
1. Cross the finish line with a smile (hands in the air)
2. Cross the finish line without injury
3. Have fun and ENJOY the last mile
4. Get Christy (I know this one is killing you... but in good time, my friends)
So if you are up to it, please share your positive experiences from your marathon or even your "lessons learned". And again, THANK YOU for your support - This picture is my marathon outfit... so if you plan to cheer at the MCM... and can spot me out of 30,000 runners, say, Hi!
11 comments:
I had my name on my shirt at MCM and I felt like I had a million best friends cheering me on even though I knew NO ONE! It helped a ton.
Best of luck this weekend. Enjoy the moment!
Some things I loved about the MCM:
1. Once you get past Hains Point, there are spectators EVERYWHERE
2. I must have high fived a million kids
3. Hot men in uniform. Tons of them.
4. Reaching the bridge and knowing I had made it.
5. Discovering the hills were nothing compared to the hills I had trained on.
6. Did I mention the hot men?
My race report from my MCM is at http://mcmmama.blogspot.com/2008/10/pre-race-to-mile-9-glory-miles.html
Good luck and HAVE FUN!
Love the outfit! You are going to do great this weekend!
So for the positives:
1. You are getting a PR! Yay!
2. Bragging rights. Yes, in this blogging community there are a lot of marathoners, but in your everyday life, probably not.
3. The last .2 of the race is the MOST AMAZING thing ever. Just thinking about it gets me choked up. I know it will be the same for you!
Good luck!
If you'd like a tool for setting your goals, you can use this web application:
Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A Vision Wall (inspiring images attached to your goals) is available too.
Works also on mobile, and syncs with Evernote.
I haven't run MCM, but I will say that my first marathon (way back in '99) is still one of my favorite races of all time. You will love the feeling of empowerment when you cross that finish line. Soak up the experience!
MCM Mama is right on- hot men in uniform make the course:) The year I ran it my male coworker was running the Nike Womens Marathon and everyone in the office made fun of us for choosing the marathons with the most hot people of the opposite gender.
MCM will be great because there are so many people out watching. Definitely enjoy the crowds! And it's supposed to be beautiful Sunday- you couldn't ask for better marathoning weather!
Even though I am one of the stress fractured runners- I still love marathoning, and every time I do one I think to myself "this is SO MUCH fun." That's why I told you to cheer as you cross the start line- it always gets me in the right frame of mind at the beginning of the race.
My friend that is running Vegas with me ran the MCM last year as her first marathon. She, too, enjoyed the view (read: hot men in uniform). haha
She says when they "beat the bridge" that was almost as exciting as the finish line because it was at that moment that they KNEW they had it.
You're going to be MAAAAAHvelous, dahling!!!
Enjoy your rest days... what a great post!
BTW, reading your blog has inspired me to push myself further... I am hoping to train for a marathon sometime next year!
http://nofsahmof3.blogspot.com/2009/11/richmond-marathon-report.html
There, it's my recap of my awesome 2009 marathon experience. If the link doesn't work, it's on my side bar. Down in the comments is a girl, Morgan. OK so her first marathon post is AWESOME, if you can link through there and find it too. Like, when I started to feel down, I channeled HER RECAP in my mind.
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