You probably haven't heard me say this before, but man is it hot... The big clock on the right tells me I have a little more than 19 days before I feel the cool crisp air of Tennessee... Finally, thank you.
I'm either getting old, or tired, maybe both, but this is the hardest training program I've done... Now, it's almost over and I can see the end... Which got me to thinking.
I think this is it.... runron will retire from running marathons.
To run 26.2 miles takes a lot out of a person, and I'm not built for the brutal mileage required to prepare for such a task.
However, I do like to run, which I'll continue to do...I'll do the 5K's, 10K's, 15K's and maybe a half-marathon in the future.... But a full 26.2? I'm done after this one... It's just not in me... Running is supposed to be fun, and it is when taken in small dosage... but these bites of 20 milers cause me to overdose and I'm afraid of burnout.
Some may think I'm a quitter, and that's fine... But I've thought long and hard about this... I'm doing what I need to do.
I think guys who run two or three marathons a year are a special breed.... my hats off to you guys... guys like Steve Runner and the Cranky Runner. you two are my age and run like you're 20. I know how hard that is, because I've tried.
So don't feel sorry for old runron, I'll be fine, and I'll still be out on the road, just not in 3 hour bites like I did this morning. I still post about the heat and what bothers me. Maybe even post more due to extra energy.
That's my thoughts now as I sit here, just after a 20 miler. Of course all this could change if I run a 3:20 marathon and qualify for Boston.... Naw, I'm done.
See you on a shorter road, runron.
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4 comments:
Ron,
I feel your pain.
I ran 20 Sunday, I headed out the door at 04:30PM (82 degrees out) yesterday and didn't get home until 08:30 PM, and at that point my post would of started sometinhg like 'What the @#$&', Marathon my 4$$, but now that I slept on it, I still hurt but it was fun.
19 days and counting.
-Brian
Don't sweat it. Everyone puts the glory on distance, but some of us are just better suited to go faster on a shorter course. Once you start beating the long course folks in shorter races, you'll be confident that you made the right choice.
Thanks angry,
Yeah, pulling 26.2 is not my best game. However, it does make the 5k's a lot easer to run.
I'm a sprinter by trade and sometimes a 3.1 mile run feels like a sprint... Which is nice.
And Brian, thanks for your words as well. The time is near... Please, please, please have cool air waiting for me.
Well, you're no quitter, because you've run marathons before and you're about to again. Quitters don't do that, so you're not one.
Every year I feel the same way, usually when the weather turns cold and all the big races are over. Problem is, the weather has not been cold in your neighborhood, and you've had to deal with horrible heat, and I don't know if I would've enjoyed that, too. And on the other side, i don't think I could live in Alaska and train there, either. I just happen to be lucky enough to live somewhere where it actually rains and isn't insanely hot all the time.
The marathon distance is not based on anything rational, but instead on the distance between two places in Greece plus two extra miles the British added around 2500 years later.
So my long-winded response is: after your trip to Tennessee, bag the marathons, go out and train seriously for shorter distances and you'll be amazed how fast you can get. I think half-marathons are so much more civilized than full-on marathons, don't tell anybody I said that.
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