I also had my family with me in 2000, check out their pics at my first marathon - click HERE!
April 27, 2008 5:11:51
It took me eight years and 10 marathons in between to repeat running a marathon. So, I went back to my roots where I ran my first marathon, the Big Sur. Running the Big Sur is like having a baby, you want to have another one, but forget the pain it takes, but are elated when you have finished. They call this course "moderately difficult", they were quite correct! I ran the Yakima River Valley Marathon 3 weeks before the Big Sur in preparation, and glad I did as it was one hill after another.
It took me over 4 minutes to get to the start line, I had not been in this large of a marathon before with just over 3200 finishers out of the 4500 registered. There were buses lined up at mile 22 for those who were over 5 hours to that point to take them off the course, which is a sad reality, but due to Hwy 1 being closed for several hours they have a strict time limit associated with this race. So if you finish, you have really accomplished something special.
I found my pace being quite limited at first due to the many runners, I was at 42 minutes at 4 miles which is exactly 1 mile underpace for me. Fortunately, I listened to "Jeff Gallaway" who told us before the race to take it easy, enjoy the beauty and conserve because the running conditions were a bit warmer then usual. Good advice indeed as I was still strong at the end though not with my normal time. Actually eight years previous I was cramping badly at mile 25, but I was fine this time around and surprised as I had not trained on hills at all. That probably slowed me down time wise too, but I had the legs. They say add 20 minutes to where you think you are going to finish and that was about right!
Having my family greet me at the finish line was very special to me as it was the 4th time they had done so and the first time since 2002. It gives you added determination as you don't want to see the dissappointment in their eyes if you don't get across that finish line or hear them say, "maybe next time Daddy", "you gave it your best, you tried Dad!" Not gonna happen in my lifetime, I would have crawled to the finish line to avoid that! So now I go on to Tacoma City 13 days later for my 3rd marathon in 5 weeks. By the time I get to Newport (a flat course), I will hopefully be in prime running form and can get my time where I had planned when I started training for this spring, a potential PR.
