Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A Brave Attempt Or A Foolish Goal?

As some of you may know, I am a runner. Or at least I like to think so. Last year was a year of many life changes and my first year doing official races. Ok, so I have not run much in the past 2 weeks. Excuses? I have many.. but I have to keep moving forward.
On October 2009, I ran the Long Beach, CA Half Marathon, while my wife (Joyce) did the full. That same day I made a promise to Joyce. To run the Long Beach, CA Marathon with her.
I have to say that some people are being very supporting about this idea, while other, well.. not really. In my sister's words to Joyce last year when she mentioned she was doing the marathon
"Have you ran that distance before?" lol.. I can proudly say.... NOPE.

Never in my life the idea of running crossed my mind. Not to mention running a marathon. In fact, I used to be one of those people that thought people who ran them were plain crazy. Funny how things work. Now, I am one of those crazy people. :-) My wife calls me stubborn, and she may be right... the more people tell me NO or the more they try to put you down. The more I wan to go for it and prove them wrong. Joyce and I learned about the Long Island Marathon a few weeks ago and decided to go for it. The Marathon is in May 2nd.

With a record of a couple of 14+ miles runs, and two official Half Marathon races in a period of 9 moths... What the hell am I thinking taking on this bad boy.. (check the pic for an idea of what the incline will be like on this race). It is scary to think I only have less than 4 months to prepare and to come up with at least 3 20 mile runs till then to even come close to finish this race before passing out. Oh yeah.. FUN and the chance to say "I ran a marathon and you can't" LOL .. to all those who say "you won't finish". What are my expectations? NONE... I guess the only goal here is to finish in one piece. I am not looking to make the NY Times front page.

I am not setting a time goal for my first marathon. I plan to go slow but steady, after all, this will be one of the maybe 3 marathons I plan to do in 2010. That is not including all the races I did in 2009 to see how much improvement I've made since. So this year promises to be packed with events.

Maybe it is a brave attempt to do this marathon in May. Perhaps I am setting my standards to high, making it a foolish Goal to achieve. But if so; where does "I can do anything I set my mind to" fit for me?. Some one once told me at the end of a race "Any one can finish a race, but not every one can win it". I think it is the other way around; What is every one running for? what are they trying to achieve? For some an actual 1st place trophy is the only thing that drives them. For others the simple fact of getting to the race on time is their goal.
Others simply want to run a race and beat their personal record. I have seen people give up after 15 min in the race, so NO, not every one can finish a race, but every one can be a winner in so many ways.

With this said, I am going to go win myself the title of "Marathoner" on May 2nd. I will run the yellow route on the map to your right, and will finish. How? I don't know yet, but I know it will be on my own two feet :-).

5 comments:

  1. You'll do fine! You have improved a lot from when you started running in Spring '09. There's no doubt you can't tackle LIM and bring home that finisher's medal. Good luck and keep up the mini-races and long runs!! As I said on DM, you da man! The marathon man!

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  2. You are going to do great. Now just get out there and run!

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  3. Thanks Runne.. Muah..i'll make sure i'll do that. ...

    Yogi: thanks for the comment and encouraging words.. glad to see you here.

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  4. You'll do great Speedy! Its about time you did a Full Marathon!! You have plenty of time to properly train and you have a reasonable goal. Best of luck and I look forward to hearing all about your training!

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  5. Thanks Eddie. LOL I hear you on the "it's about time" lol I dropped the ball today at my parents. I got the reaction I was expecting from my mom... an usual "sight". My dad only had to say "Well, good luck" Oh, but he is doing the half that same day with Joyce. Oh well.. good to know I have Joyce and other friends I can count on for support and cheers..

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