Confessions of a (True) Non-Runner

Well, I did my first marathon this last weekend, and I have to be completely honest with myself - I am a bad long-distance runner.

Give me a 10km, and I'm alright... not elite, by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm okay... in fact, even up to a 1/2 marathon I can at least pull off sub-2 hrs.

But boy, this body does NOT like running on pavement for longer than that. I tried pacing myself and going by what felt comfortable, but this race strategy failed miserably... by the time I saw the first marker (5 miles), I realized I was off my target pace by a good 2mins per mile. And being the runner that I am... this was time I wasn't going to get back.

But in the end, I felt great - fortunately, this was not my first humbling in endurance sports (no, that happened when I tried my first triathlon), so my expectations were fairly broad... and all I can do is what I am constantly telling customers to do:

• Until you've done one, you have no idea what your goal should be - because it's all relevant to yourself, not to others.
• You're not going to know how your body reacts to the stress until you've actually gone through it.
• When you've completed the first... well, THAT'S when you start setting timing goals.
• Finally - regardless of where you finish, think of all the people that have never (and ARE never) going to start, and take pride in being a member of a relatively select club.

So for everyone out there who, like me, have battled against your own traitorous legs to finish an endurance event (and will continue to) - let's give ourselves a collective pat on the back, and continue to encourage each other to get across that finish line, however long it might take us.

"Amat victoria curam" - victory favors those who take pains. Believe me - by this definition, I am victorious every time I do one of these races...

~Guy