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Posted by melikerunfast on 1/11/2007 on melikerunfast's blog I ran my first -- and last -- marathon this last fall. And I wonder if I'm alone in that? OK, perhaps this is heresy on this website, where it's mostly truly passionate runners who hang out. But I don't think I'll run another marathon. One is enough. I did it. Great. On to other (shorter) things. So here's the deal: Last year I signed up for a marathon training program, which culminated in me doing a fall marathon. Running the race was enjoyable actually, other than the last 5 miles. (Where have you heard that before? :) ) I had hopes of breaking 4 hours, but ended up at 4:12 because I had some short walk breaks in said final 5 miles. Considering my half-M personal best is 1:48, I really thought I could handle around 4 hours. Oh well. At the end of the race I felt like crap. (Again, you've heard that before.) REally crappy ... nausea, and it took a couple days to recover from the zombie state. OK, so that's normal for mere mortals. But I've read enough about people's first marathons to know that it's (I'm told) like the pain of childbirth -- you forget about the pain in a day and can't wait to train for more marathons (or have another baby) So I'm a bit perplexed at my reaction. Why didn't I get hooked and want to run more marathons? To try to break the 4 hour barrier? Anyway, halfs are great. That's a nice length for a race, and I'll be sticking to those, 10K's and 5K's. More marathons? I'll pass. Has anyone else had a similar marathon experience? | |
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My first (and last) marathon |
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2 comments
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simon says:
Congratulations on joining the ranks of the sensible. Or are we just scared?
I've never understood the marathon obsession, but I guess I can see how people get hooked on chipping away at their PRs, and with hours to play with there is plenty of room for improvement.
Marathoners tell me that there is a way of running them so that they are fun. For me, racing means two things: 1) the sheer joy of letting rip and running as fast as I can for as long as I can; and 2) the associated, inevitable, pain and suffering. So I like to keep my races as short as possible :) If I had the body type I'd probably try my hand at sprints and 400s. As it is I am "doomed" to 5ks and the mile. A 10k or two is OK. A half-marathon is my limit.
I did run a marathon once. It was a cross-country marathon in England that followed a route along the South Downs linking ancient hill forts. There was a MASSIVE climb in the final two miles in which I started hallucinating that there were vultures circling at the top. When I eventually got up there it turned out they were hang-gliders.
Like you, I waited for the post-recovery "rebound effect" to kick in and turn me into a marathon aficionado, but it never did. The one race I would LOVE to run, though, is the "real marathon" -- the Spartathlon, which gets as close as it possibly can to Pheidippides' original route from Athens to Sparta. It's 246k with a mountain climb included. Scott Jurek won the latest one in 22:52:18.
* Spartathlon website: www.spartathlon.gr
melikerunfast says:
Simon: good to hear that I'm not the only one who didn't catch marathon fever after running one. Reading the running mags, you'd think it was normal to run a marathon once and then be stoked to run another fifty! 26.2 isn't for everyone.
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