I don't know what makes runners different from the average person, but you can
definitely see something in all the runners when you go to an event like a
marathon. My mom does those huge 100 mile ultras that you hear about, and
for years I could never understand what was wrong with her. But now after
completing my first marathon, I can tell you that there is no better feeling
after finishing those 26.2 miles. (I could only imagine what that feeling
would be like after 100!)
I really had very little experience in running; in high school I was on the swim
team which is quite different from running entirely. But here I am, typing
this up and smiling at the same time, and my room mate now thinks I'm insane, if
she didn't already when I'd get up at 7 in the morning on Saturdays to run those
long runs with RunTex. My time was a 4:07 by my watch which is not really
a fast time...it's about a 9:30 pace per mile. Oddly enough when I looked
at my splits, the first 10K of the marathon was my slowest. I was so
nervous about going out too fast, and I was unfortunate in running by this guy
with this beeping heart monitor that beeped like every second and made me think
he'd just kill over. My confidence increased after the 10th mile and all
of those wonderful volunteers made me speed up and I was doing an 8:35 pace for
quite a while.
I'm 18 years old, and some of the best runners there were in their 40's so I've
got a lot to learn and a long time to learn it. Some things I have learned are
1) don't go out too fast but don't let that keep you from starting out with a
good pace (2) do not think about going to the bathroom and you most likely you
won't have to...those porta-potty lines are infinite and really take up time (3)
learn how to distract yourself from pain which can be the hardest to bear around
mile 23...look at objects, people, or anything that gets your mind off it... (4)
do not stop if you can help it, I didn't even stop when I grabbed water along
the way...once you stop it is so hard to get going again and get your pace back,
and (5) do not run next to people who breathe like Darth Vader (this guy I was
next to on mile 19 had some pretty unusual breathing patterns) or wear beeping
heart monitors because it will make you concentrate on your own pain. Just go
for it! And once you run a marathon, I guarantee you that you'll want more!
Just make sure you do those long runs and make one of those long runs a 20
miler, and you'll be ready. Running with the UT Marathon Team has
been such a great experience...I wouldn't have done what I did today without
them.
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