the overall experience & what's next

Running a marathon has been the most humbling experience of my life. What follows are the 3 main reasons.

The first reason is the physical demands. The course and weather kicked my ass yesterday. Intense cramping mainly. The heat, feeling tired. Going in my ideal time was 4 hours, but I would have been happy with 4:20 or 4:30. None of that was meant to be. I realized about mile 13 or 14 that the heat was too much...well, I realized it before...but this is when reality started to sink in that I was going to have to seriously slow down the rest of the race in order to fight exhaustion and overheating. Those are some things I need to look into for next time - why the heat bothers me more than it does others. Walking or running 26.2 miles is no small feat for anyone regardless of time.

Since I did my marathon training with Team in Training, I met a lot of cancer survivors. So many were grateful for the efforts to fundraise to fight cancer and find a cure. Random strangers at Wal-Mart would give hugs or start crying once they saw the TNT logo or realized what you were fundraising for. Several acquaintances donated large sums of money as their life has been impacted by leukemia or lymphoma. The amount of charitable need in this world is large, ranging from the homeless, the poor, civil rights, the sick, etc., in this country and in others. It's humbling to consider the amount of need in the world, and how appreciative those affected are when you meet and interact with them.

Finally, the amount of support and interest has been overwhelming. My wife's co-workers all wanted to know how I was doing and were asking about my progress. It's one thing to have your own co-workers express interest, but another to hear about people you barely know (if at all). The team has been encouraging from the start. My sister has been great. Those that stayed at the hotel had their door decorated the night before the marathon. My wife and sister got the same stuff and decorated the door to the guest bedroom in my sister's house. I was touched when they made signs with my name on it (it included a caricature with a squiggly red beard and a yellow dome on top). I am also very grateful for TNT, not only because of the training program, but the endless support during the marathon itself. I would not have been able to finish if random coaches had not coached me through one of the intense cramps I experienced.

These last two I find humbling in opposite ways. One is humbling for how I have supported and help others, the other for those that have supported and helped me. The common theme here is scope: the huge physical challenge and how it can (and will) kick your ass, the suffering of a large set of people, and the support of a large set of people I did not expect.

Thanks to all that donated. I will be writing shortly to thank you personally.

And yes I'm doing this again for some dumb reason. I'm mentoring with TNT in the winter, intending to run in the Kiawah Island (South Carolina) marathon in December. It should be colder then. I've got 2 half marathons lined up as well. Those are a bit easier at this point.

I finished

Overall I was pleased with how things went. I was disappointed in my 4 hour 58 finish. The forecast was for cool weather, starting around 50 and ending around 71 with brief showers. It was well over 60 degrees by the time the race was significantly underway. It was 65 at 9am which starts to approach really hot for a run like this. Especially for me. Starting around mile 16 or 17 and for the next 4 miles I experienced some intense cramping. I didn't know muscles could do that, nor did I know it was so painful. In this case it was a result of salt loss from sweat. The medical stations have salt packets (like at your local fast food joint) and I had a couple of them. My legs were tired the rest of the race, but the heat prevented me from running very fast. Given the circumstances I'm very happy.

I'll post more about my thoughts later. Just wanted to give folks an update.

Easter thoughts

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/04/martin.jesus/index.html

20 miles

We were supposed to run 21 miles but I knew I wasn't going to last that long. 20 miles, 3 hours 15 minutes. I was doing about a 9 minute 10 second mile through 13 or 14 and then went downhill quickly.

It was really tough today. The wind was horrible.

And now I'm off to Hilton Head for a week.

Oh yeah, fundraising is complete. Thanks to everyone who has donated. I will be sure to send you a thank you note after the marathon with a full update of the season.