Fri 19 April 2002
Five days after the marathon, and the return of some kind of normality.
I've been in Manchester all week, discussing sensible things like business processes and software solutions, and generally re-acquainting myself with normal life.
Normal life, I am reminded, contains beer and Indian food and fried breakfasts and chocolate and midnight biscuits. Which in turn contain horrid things called calories which are already producing the hint of a long-forgotten sense of tension between the belly and the belt. Am I concerned? No, not yet. This is the week of self-indulgence I promised myself.
On Sunday I must start to address some of those big questions about Chicago and future running plans. For the moment, let the celebrations continue.
Strangely, I've not really stopped to think about what the experience of the last few months has meant. I will keep a separate list somewhere on this site, but in the meantime, here is a start...
Here are some things I've learnt from the experience of training for, and running, a marathon (in no particular order or format):
Anyone can run a marathon. I smoked for 25 years, was more than 50 pounds overweight, and apart from very occasionally running for a bus, hadn't moved out of walking mode since I was at school - 29 years ago. If I can do it, anyone can.
Deciding to take part in a marathon is a decision about much more than taking part in a marathon - though you might not realise that for a while.
Running a marathon doesn't make you feel more big-headed or more special. Surprisingly perhaps, it does the exact opposite.
A marathon is a metaphor for something much bigger, and if you 'do' a marathon, you're actually doing something much greater than just running 26 miles.
Some people will see you in a different light.
People who smoke or drink a lot, or binge-eat are particularly suited to marathon training: apart from benefitting most from it, an obsessional/addictive personality is actually very helpful.
In contrast to what you might hear, running is actually quite hard, and can give you great pain and discomfort, but despite that, you quickly start to look forward to, and even to fantasise about, your next run as though it's some great treat. I still haven't worked that one out.
Despite (normally) being a solitary activity, you make a lot of new friends when you decide to train for a marathon.
The internet is a great resource for runners and running.
It's hard for the novice to judge pace.
When running a marathon, it's easy to get worn down and lose your self-discipline. This doesn't matter if your aim is just to get round but if you decide that time is important, this problem will need addressing, and working on, just like any other part of your game-plan. In other words, mental toughness is an under-estimated problem.
To maximise the benefit, and the chances of reaching your goal, a training plan is essential. It will make the run itself much less uncomfortable, but this isn't really the point. Pretty much anyone can walk/jog 26 miles on the day but the real value of running a marathon comes long before the big day. Feeling much better, physically and mentally, is the reward
More to follow.
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