Cross this one of my life list. I completed a full marathon. It was not heroic, fast, not really “fun”. The final time was 5:26:01 just withing my secret, unblogged goal of 5:30. I came in 5264th place! That New Zealander in first place could have lapped me (he finished in something like 2:15, how do people do that?).
I want to send a big thanks to everyone who encouraged me, a double thanks for my sponsors, the folks who responded to my twitter messages. A big extra thanks go to Eric and family for showing up near mile 10, and a huge thanks to Travis and Britt for cheering me through mile 25. That was awesome.
All in all, the first half was great and second… not great.
The day was perfect, a total contrast to the 2007 FreezeFest. I knew it would get hot, so started in my shorts and singlet. I saw people shedding all kinds of sweats, garbage bags, gloves as soon as the sun came out. I got downtown in plenty of time, we had our Team-D meetup/photo, and I was primed:
All in all, I likely went out a bit too fast, as I started to fade past the halfway point. Here’s the splits which show a sliding pace…
- 10:40
- 10:42
- 10.53
- 11:27
- 10:15
- 11:07
- 11:00
- 15:00 (bathroom break, sent twitter message via phone)
- 10:33
- 11:47 (stopped briefly to greet friends)
- 10:47
- 11:06
- 10:54
- 11:50
- 11:31
- 12:02 (uh-oh starting to slow)
- 12:19
- 13:47 (yes, getting tired)
- 13:12
- 14:46 (started walk intervals, sent twitter message, to tired to spell)
- 14:20
- 13:22
- 17:55 (ugh!mostly walked)
- 14:31
- 13:51 (picked up a bit more slow running)
- 13:38
He’s Smiling; Is It Real?
Some favorite t-shirts seen today (there was a lot, but my memory got fuzzy)
- “The only easy day is yesterday”
- “Marathon Virgin” (2 of em)
- “Another LSD* Marathon” (Long Slow Duration)
All I can say is.. .I Am DONE! and the name of this blog stays as it is.
Great work, Alan! You continue to inspire.
good work, buddy! you’ve come a heck of a long way and deserve to bask in the glory for a bit.
my race came out alright but certainly not the disaster of last year. so i’m counting it a win.
Congratulations, Alan! You are amazing! What an accomplishment and how wonderful that you are done!!
You are definitely heroic, Alan,
– for even aspiring to run a marathon in spite of type 1 diabetes,
– for training for three years, through some difficult times and injuries,
– for raising thousands of dollars for the fight against diabetes,
– for writing up and sharing your experiences here in your blog,
– for doing it.
Congratulations!
Congratulations is an odd word. Seems like we say it when someone wins a raffle or when they graduate from college. There should be one word for getting lucky, and another word for achieving something through hard work. You know which one you deserve.
Congratulations, Alan!
Alan,
Fantastic. Congratulations on your marathon. An amazing accomplishment and a great way to begin 2008.
Hope the meal after the race was excellent!
Hey little brother!
You are terrific! I am very proud of all that you have accomplished. Katie and Rachel send their congrats too! They look forward to running a marathon one day too. Wish we could have been there to cheer you on!
Way to go Alan! I know you’ve been training and planning for this for several years. Sometimes when I’m driving and I see that the next town is 26 miles away, I think, “Once I ran 26 miles”…try it, it’s a fun sense of accomplishment. Good work!
Great job. I ran my first in 2006 with same times as you basically. I am really trying to start again. Great cause, my wife is a type 1 diabetic.
Wow, what an accomplishment, running a marathon!!
Well done Alan! First marathon of many??? It’s certainly an achievement to be proud of. How do you feel now?
First marathon of indeterminate number. Dont ask me now.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, chalk it up to good Team D training– I had little soreness afterward, just some tightness in the thighs Monday, and gone by Tuesday.
Thanks for all the well wishes
Alan,
I can’t believe I missed that post. Congratulations on completing a full marathon. I did that last July and I well remember the feeling of accomplishment and exhaustion. I also remember the long break from running that followed.