Monday, September 22, 2008

Boulder Marathon Recap


The Boulder Marathon is in the books. It started with meeting Scott at 4:45am to begin our trek up to Boulder. We arrived while it was still dark out, but the sun made it's appearance shortly thereafter and the marathon began at 7am. Scott ran in the 1/2 marathon and was kind enough to drive us up there even though it meant he had to wait around an hour before the 1/2 started at 8am.

Those clouds you see in the background were a huge bonus for the day. They stayed around for several hours and kept the sun away while the air was perfect for running. The marathon went well. I didn't know this course at all, but enjoyed the run through the backroads of Boulder. It was very scenic as we ran on dirt roads through farmlands that featured the mountains is a backdrop.

All was going well until I hit a four mile stretch of uphill running around mile 17. It was much steeper and longer than I had anticipated. The end result was I burned through all my reserve energy and my pace drastically dropped. The last 5 miles were slow going. Fortunately, I had built up a nice cushion so I was still able to beat my previous marathon best time by about a minute. I came across the finish at 3:27:56.

Scott also had a personal record for the half. He completed it in 1:37:28. He's going to give the Denver Half Marathon a go in about a month and I predict he's going to set another PR! He also gets extra props for going straight to the Broncos game after the race...without a shower!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

78.6 miles to go...


This Sunday is my first marathon of the year. I'm going to be running in the Boulder Marathon. I've had a great summer of training and am feeling ready and excited.

This Fall I'm shooting for three marathons in twenty-nine days. It's going to be a stretch, but I think I can recover quick enough to be ready for the next one. In two weeks, I'll be heading off to visit my family and run in the New Hampshire Marathon...and then it's back to CO for the Denver Marathon.

Needless to say, my running has been a huge part of my life. It is a way to relieve stress, while feeling alive! By that I mean, it gives me the chance to use my body & mind to it's fullest extent. Running builds space into my life to relax (I know you're thinking there are much better ways to relax than while huffing it for 20+ miles). Overtime, the discomfort of running has done a 180 and now I look forward to it. I don't listen to music, so I usually have a lot of quiet, early morning time to think while I run. I have never appreciated sunrises as much as I do on my runs (the above photo was from my last training run on Thurs AM). I've come to value this "space" that is a refuge when the rest of life's demands press in.

The actual marathons are more of a celebration of the journey to get there. Thousands of runners coming together...all with unique journeys and reasons to run...all attempting to accomplish the same goal that is 26.2 miles away. For some reason the whole experience is very powerful. I'm thankful to be a part of it.

I didn't mean to give a sermon here, but thought I'd share a bit about why I do this.