Marathon Race Recaps

It has been my experience, that in reading other people's stories you not only often find inspiration, but you can learn a lot too. Believe it or not, but in my younger days, I wasn't the most assiduous of pupils. A wise man that once said though, that "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear". Well, I've come a long way since my school days and I'd be darned if teachers aren't just popping up left and right. See, since that scholastic time of yore, I've become quite studious and sometimes, voraciously so. Take my pregnancy as a recent example; I wanted to know all there was to know about a woman's body and the birthing process. I read, studied, asked questions, and scoured the Internet for bits of knowledge that could help me piece the whole process together. I understand that it's all theoretical until you are finally able to put the information to practice, but let me tell you it's far better to be prepared than uninformed. Seriously, knowledge is power.

Anyway, it wasn't so different back in the summer of '11, when I was gearing up for my first marathon. I wanted to know what I was in for with this whole marathon business, so I read race recap after race recap. I was like a crazed Jim Carey in Ace Ventura, "I'm ready to go in, Coach. Just give me a chance. I know there's a lot riding on it, but it's all psychological. Got to stay in a positive frame of mind. Memorize the play book. Study the films." Every story I read, regardless of the runner's ability or finish time, gave me heart palpitations and had adrenaline coursing throughout my body. They got me excited and mentally ready to race.

I found two compelling tales, in particular, that coincidentally were about the Twin Cities Marathon, which just so happened to be the race I had chosen to make my debut. You can read those recounts, here and here. I read both about a dozen times each and practically memorized every detail. I visualized myself running the course, feeling what each of those runner's felt during their journey. I daydreamed about them during runs and envisioned similar successes for myself. For those of you headed to Minneapolis/St Paul this October, you're in luck because I have one more that takes place in The Land of a Thousand Lakes. If you're headed elsewhere to tromp 26.2 miles, then just ignore the setting. Good luck as you continue on towards your goals and I hope my story gets you psyched up to race, like all those others did for me. Check it it out on the Running page.