Marathon man, again?

Around 1997 I began "trying to train" to run a marathon after one of my best friends, Ed Schipul successfully ran one in 1995.  I was motivated and physically fit, but not well informed as to what I needed to do.  For 3 years, I would try to train (with no guidance) and would always end up pulling a hamstring or some other muscle that would sideline me for (at least) a month - this would take me out of the training schedule.  What's weird is that my muscle pulls and strains would not happen during a run; I would be walking to my office and all of a sudden, my muscle would tighten up and I'd be in a lot of pain.  Hamstring pulls take forever to heal since it's such a large muscle and it's used everyday to walk.

Then one day (around the year 2000) someone told me that I should stretch AFTER the workout.  I always knew to stretch before, but I NEVER stretched afterwards.  This was a simple solution to my muscle pulls... I tested it and it worked, I would have pains here and there but no muscle pulls.  I was excited that such a simple piece of information would put me back on target to successfully complete a marathon.

So I began my training program in early September of 2000.  My sister Belen had given me a training program put together by Houston Fit - it was tough but do-able.  I worked through the aches, pains and schedule adjustments I needed to make. 

One more thing that helped me get through the months of training was "self forgiveness".  In the past, I would start training and then have to skip a few days or a week for ANY reason and I'd give up the training - I felt ashamed of myself for having skipped some of the training and I'd quit. Self forgiveness gave me an avenue to continue my training even if I skipped a whole week.  I'd just tell myself, "it's alright... I just need to work a little harder to get back on track"... and it worked!

So I continued to run (not as much or as fast as I would have liked)... but my goal was to finish the Houston Marathon in no more than 5 hours and 30 minutes.  If I ran slower than that I would not be considered among the official finishers.

To start off, I trained mostly on a treadmill at Compaq's workout facility (where I worked at the time).  Then came the first big test - in early October, the first marathon pre-race (20k) took place.  After the race, I realized that I needed to mix-in some outdoors training.  I also learned that I needed to get shoes that were about 1 size longer than my shoesize.  I got blisters and burns in places that I won't mention... but I learned that vaseline and band-aids would be my friends.

With the information I learned from the 20k, I was able to run the next pre-race (25k in early November) with less issues. 

I was ill and could not run the 30k in early December, but I continued to train and prepare for the mid-January Houston Marathon. 

I asked some of my family if they could attend the race but they declined since they live in Austin so I decided to sign up and run the Austin Marathon as well, which takes place about 30 days after the Houston Marathon... THIS WAS NOT SMART ON MY PART... but since it was the first time I was running a marathon, I didn't know that one is supposed to wait 2 to 3 months between marathons for the body to recover properly.

I was determined to run and finish 2 marathons in 30 days... quite a big task, but in my case ignorance helped me get through it.

I ran and finished the Houston Marathon in 5.5 hours which was the exact cut-off to be included as an official finisher - my goal.

I rested about 1 week and picked up training again to get ready for the Austin Marathon. 

I ran in Austin - it was MUCH tougher than Houston because there were rough downhill stretches that put a lot of strain on my knees and feet.  I completed the Austin Marathon in 6.5 hours.... painfully rested a couple of hours, drove back to Houston and went to work the next day.  When I got home from work, I could barely take off my shoes because my feet were in so much pain and extremely swollen.  I missed about a week of work because of my stubborn ignorance.

Overall, it was an amazing experience that helped me learn a lot about myself.  I realized that I had the power over my mind to achieve anything.  I battled head trash that tried to beat me down and won.  If you like to run, I highly recommend running a marathon.

At a time when I was doubting if I could finish college and earn a degree, I achieved something that helped me push forward and finish my studies with ease.

Now I am training to run the Houston Marathon in 2007 - maybe that means I'll go back to school to earn my MBA someday soon!

Comments

[Adam]

MBA? Yeah, it could set you up to achieve it. But do not forget that there are many races we race in our life. Some are harder than others. The hardest one of all is the one that requires constant training with no periods of rest ever.
-Adam-