Well, I've managed to do 1 run this week, but do have another run planned for this evening, and one more on Thursday. It is taper week afterall, with another marathon in 4 days. Wait. What?!? I still haven't gotten my head mentally in this one yet. Physically, I still am a little stiff, but getting there with each passing day. Mentally, I'm not sure where I'm at. In other words, I haven't committed my mind to another 26.2 miles yet, and that's a huge issue. If you're mind tells you cannot do something, your body will probably listen. I'm sure it will come, especially as I start to carb up in the coming days, and definitely as I hit the running expo and see the thousands of other runners there. I'll just have to dig deep and find that zone-out mode where I can run, and run, and run, without thinking about it too much, and by then, hopefully it will be near the end.
Granted, this is not the TYPICAL marathon preparation that you should do, as I'm trying to do 3 marathons in 7 weeks. I'm sure a lot of people would say that's not even smart, or safe. Ha. I've been an experiment of one all year, and have proven again, and again, that I can do things that most normal people wouldn't even think of. When I started running in January, 11 months ago, and boldly proclaimed that I was going to run a half marathon in 4 months, you would have thought I committed heresy. Gasp. I not only completed that first half, but went on to do 5 more, 2 full marathons, with one more this weekend. I definitely pushed the envelope, and broke several sacred running laws along the way, but oh well. I've never really cared what anyone else has had to say or thought about me, so no reason why that would change now.
Do I have any regrets? Absolutely not! I've had the time of my life this past year, running, learning, trying, and yes, making mistakes. But I feel that I've grown so much, and have really blossomed into a smart runner, who not only knows what he's doing, but also comfortable in the fact about it. I've had hurdles to overcome, have had some low points, and now am just hitting my stride I hope.
There's a huge debate about running, whether you should train to be the best you can be, and waiting several years before attempting a marathon. Others say jump in the deep end and you'll either sink or swim. There are two polar opposite camps. The one ultra conservative camp that says absolutely no way should you ever attempt what I've done this past year, going from nothing, to a becoming multi-marathoner in 12 months. There are others that say why not, give it a try, do what you want. You'll never know how far you can go until you push yourself past your limit. I liken this to a quote by Mark Twain that I absolutely love. "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the things you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." And I'm doing just that!
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