TotallyOz Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 On the verge of my first marathon, I find myself excited, scared, exhilarated and depressed all at the same time. First, I am not really sure what someone my age is doing running his first marathon. It seemed like such an impossible task when I first thought about the idea. To run 26 miles on one day just seemed like something only a lunatic could do. The more I thought about it, the closer I started looking at races and which one would suit me the best. I picked a race and a city and started getting ready for it. Instead of loosing weight, I have gained weight on this journey. I am not sure if I am eating more or I am just not concentrating on the workouts the way I did a month ago. In any case, the day of reckoning is less than a few weeks away and I find myself working hard each day to put in the needed miles that was suggested so that I won’t hurt or kill myself. This week was a 15-mile run. It took slightly over 3 hours for me to do. I have to say that that is not a great pace but will put me in around my goal to finish the race. What I didn’t expect was the needed pee breaks, the protein bars after each hour and a really sore neck and back the day after. Next week, I’ll do a 20 mile run to see if that is something I can do and if so, it looks like I am headed to the 26 mile shin dig soon. The journey to get to the race has been a great adventure. I have found myself so tired at times that sex is not even anywhere on my mind. I find my sleeping has become better than ever. Last night, I was so hard sleeping that I fell off my bed. I have not done that is over 20 years. The boyfriend freaked out and thought I was dying. I hit the floor pretty hard and it scarred him. He said I just cursed a lot and went back to bed but he didn’t sleep well as I kept trying to edge to the end of the bed. LOL Life continues to thrill me and while I am still a fat dirty old pervert, the extra training I have been doing to get ready for this task has been a real journey. It has had its ups and downs but I have really enjoyed the ride. I don’t know if I will make it to race day the first weeks of October or if I will have to drop out and do another one. I am hoping for no injuries, surprises or drama. But, as the 15-mile run was a breeze, I look forward to my last weeks of training for this. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and send good thoughts my way. I need them. Oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Conway Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Congratulations. You have really taken your good health to a new level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TotallyOz Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 Thanks. I was supposed to do a long run on Saturday in the USA but I was held hostage in Thailand. We were suppose to board a non stop plane to USA but they kept delaying and delaying and delaying and finally they cancelled it for the night and put us up in a hotel. They confiscated our passports and shuttled us to the hotel. We had to be back at airport by 6:00 AM the next morning and by the time the plane left, another day was wasted and my last long run before the long trek was not made. I did get into USA in order to have a last week before the run. I am now more worried than ever that I won't finish as I did a mountain run today for 8 miles and it was at a 16 min per mile pace. That is about 4 minutes off the needed time to finish in under 6 hours. So, I have some work to do. The run is not an uphill run so that will help shave off a few minutes but it is not going to be easy anyway. I have found my IPod is my new best friend. The GPS is great and I am using a program called runkeeper which records my time, distance, elevation, etc and then uploads it to their site for me to compare and learn. I have send the link to my family and they have been watching it as well. The time is ticking and I am working hard but not sure that the tired old body will be able to pump it out. Only time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiBottomBoy Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...