Jenny said that the whole thing was a surreal experience. And in a lot of ways, it makes sense. Running a marathon can be transformative in so many ways, and can mark a definitive shift in a person's life. So naturally, participating in the whole experience, the preparation, the travel, the pre-race rituals, and finally completing the 26.2 mile journey, can seem surreal, like a dream. But there is no waking up - this is reality, and the dream actually came true. So what now? That's a question we face post marathon. What now? How do I recover? How do I move on and what is next? Another marathon, a new time goal? But now that the dream has come true, it can transform us and lead us into a new direction. We’re both very excited to see what lies ahead.
Now that MCM is over, my eyes are turned to the 10ks coming up. I ran 191.9 miles in October - proof that double days really can bump up the mileage. I'll be doing a track workout tomorrow - my first in two weeks. Already, I'm excited - looking forward to cranking out a few fast miles.
I really enjoyed my long run yesterday: 10.5 miles. Recovery has been going well. Marine Corps didn't do the damage that the marathon normally does, so while I am still
taking it easy, I haven't felt as exhausted/broken down as I normally do. So, to run 10.5 a week after 26.2 didn't seem like a big stretch. My long runs won't exceed 12 miles for another 6 weeks, so I am just going to enjoy that these are "shorter" runs! This upcoming season is exciting - I love training in the fall, and I have high expectations that the next few weeks will help to continue to build a strong base.
Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” came on during my run, and I thought of the marathon, which was ongoing during my long run. It is one of my long-term goals to get into the New York Marathon via their qualifying system (3:22 is an automatic in). I was grateful that NBC did a 2-hour highlights special of the NYC marathon. What an exciting race. So sad to hear Haile Gebresaille drop out and then announce his retirement from running. But what joy on the women’s side. I was so excited to watch Shalane Flannagan make her debut. Her across-the-board talent (from 1500m to the half) set her up for a fantastic entry into the marathon. So exciting to watch her stay with the pack, and when it was cut down to three, hang on. 2nd place in NYC in her marathon debut – phenomenal. I was moved to tears – so proud to have her represent American women (she also won the USA Marathon Championship today) – stunning performance. In her post-interview, she said that the beauty of the marathon is "That you always want more," and I couldn't agree more.
Dreams to come true, and when they do, you don’t just wake up. You start dreaming all over again.
No comments:
Post a Comment