Today was my first marathon clinic night. I was anxious, jittery, and basically felt like I was going to throw up. I showed up 15 minutes early just to make sure that I wasn't the last one there. When I got there I got my name tag, sat down and waited. A few more people arrived up and then we started with the introductions.
I'm very thankful that I was one of the first ones to say hi. My goal - to finish The Marathon, time TBD - seemed a little sad after hearing everybody else. Now I know that I can't compare myself to men and women that have run longer races. It's just very hard to sit there and think you have an attainable goal when 4 out of 12 in the group have BQ'd.* It's also hard to hear that some of them have run 10+ marathons. I can't help but feeling extremely intimidated, even if the more experienced runners are the pace leaders and they are there to help the rest of us out. Now it's not that I don't think I can do it. I do. Everyone is really nice and I know that they'll be supportive too. But really. How can I not feel a tiny bit discouraged if I'm one of the only ones running their first marathon? It seems pretty far away still. (And, Mum, even though I say this I won't drop out...)
The good thing about the night though was that I've slotted myself in with a pace group. We did a 6.7km (4ish mile) steady run and I totally kept up - about 46min total. As long as everything goes well during training my goal at the moment is 4hr 15min. So I'm happy with how things went and am looking forward to doing my training runs. Everything starts off nice and slow for the first few weeks - but since I'm training for a 1/2 I kind of miss those runs - and then we get into uncharted (for me) territory. It's not too long until I start long runs that are past the half marathon distance. I'm still a little out of my element right now, but after meeting everybody and going out tonight I'm a lot calmer and, dare I say, a little more enthusiastic.
*For those of you who aren't up on the lingo (and I wasn't a month ago) that means they have qualified for and have run or are preparing to run the Boston Marathon, the Holy Grail of Running. I'm just looking for a PR (personal record, also known as PB or personal best) which I will have even if I have to crawl across the finish line.
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Hi Alanna! Thanks for joining my little currently crazy journey.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are joining us in reaching for those goals that others miss out on. If you love running you will love the experince of preparing for and accomplishing your first marathon. How wonderful for you for it all to be so new. Grab on to every minute of it. Remember there is no "good" or "bad" run, they are all just steps forward toward the person/runner/mum you are refining yourself to be. I look forward to tagging along!
Good luck with your clinic. I really wish there was some sort of running group near where I live... it would make training so much funner.
ReplyDeleteYou know, the great thing about running clinics is that there is ALWAYS a spread of abilities. And through that spread, you are able to learn, give and take. One day, you will be the experienced one giving advice to others, so don't worry! Enjoy it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice on running routes - this week has gone quite well apart from being very tired on Thursday and an incredibly slow run on Wednesday night post-clinic. Meant to say - it's worth picking up the following book: The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer (I know you already run) - unfortunately I've lost my copy. It's just really reassuring and inspirational as the programme is based on running 4 times a week. Think it will be a good source of info in the weeks to come...The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by David Whitsett, Forrest Dolgener (Author), Tanjala Kole "We human beings have a unique capacity to make our own reality ..."
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