Almost 20 years ago to the day, I ran my first marathon.
The 2005 Marine Corps Marathon.
It wasn’t pretty. At all.
It was my first race ever – of any distance. And many mistakes were made.
Most notably, after struggling through the first half of the race, I took my first GU gel ever – yes, EVER! – and, without going into too much detail, I paid the price (a few times) for that mistake the rest of the way.
I finished in just under six hours, beaten and bruised.
But when I was talking to a friend the next day, I said I was doing it again the next year. Why? Because I didn’t want that race to be my only memory of the marathon.
Even though it was a really tough day, I knew that I could run and feel better.
So, back I went. In 2006, 2007 and 2008.
And each year, I ran a new personal best – 5:31 in 2006, 5:13 in 2007 and 5:01 in 2008 – just simply from experience and not making stupid decisions (like trying something for the first time during the race!).
And each year, I was less beaten and less bruised.
A few months after the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon, I thought I had my breakthrough – running 4:10 in a local marathon. Over the moon with that time, I thought there was no way it could get any better than that for me.
So, I stopped running marathons – I thought for good.
I ran less and less. And gained more and more weight.
Several years later, I started running again consistently. I lost weight, down to my lowest weight since high school and decided to give the marathon another chance.
Ten years since my last marathon, I took 40 minutes off of my personal best in Seattle in 2019. Then, another four minutes off in Munich later that year.
After a covid-imposed racing hiatus, I took another four minutes off in Philadelphia in 2021, taking my personal best to 3:21. And equaled that time again the next spring in Copenhagen.
And then – boom.
The string of personal bests, spanning 16 years and 8 marathons ended.
And I started going the other way. My times started to gradually slow down with each of the next 3 marathons – Philadelphia again in 2022 (3:35), Copenhagen again in 2023 (3:40) and Chicago last October (4:03).
I kept wondering why this was happening. Was it just me getting older? Was I taking training for granted, assuming that I would be ready come race day?
Or was it all simply a coincidence?
I still don’t really know the answer to those questions. But I’ve also stopped thinking about it that much as time has gone on.
So when I saw the email, at the beginning of this year, for the 50th running of the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October, I thought maybe this was a sign to go back.
I registered for it a few days later and, since then, have done my best to keep pretty quiet about it with a few exceptions.
The main reason I kept it quiet was because I didn’t want to create any expectations or put any unnecessary pressure on myself. So I told family and a few friends and left it at that.
I went about running every day and running a few different races, but for the last few months, this is the only race I’ve really been looking forward to.
My main focus has just been consistency, trying to get good speed sessions and long runs in, and, most importantly, just enjoying the running (as I’ve mentioned several times this year)!
If you’ve read my posts from this year, you’ll know that from a strictly running standpoint, it’s been a roller coaster of a year so far. But from an enjoyment standpoint, it’s been about as good as I could hope for.
I’ve had so many running experiences, both good and bad, since my first marathon. Yes, the other marathons, but also the one ultra marathon, the 20 or so half marathons, and the countless other races I’ve done.
But there’s one main difference between the marathon this weekend and most of those other races I’ve done. This is the first time I’ll start a race without even thinking about a personal best time. I’m just going to try to enjoy the day for what it is and appreciate the fact that I have the opportunity to run.
Yes, I’ve run better times over the years, mainly due to consistency and experience. But at the same time, racing (and running in general) can be unpredictable. So we do the things that have worked in the past and in the preparation for the race. And we hope, at least I do, that they work again for at least one more day.
When I line up at the start on Sunday, I’ll be thinking about when I was here 20 years ago for the first time and how I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
And I’ll be thinking about how much things have changed in the last 20 years.
And how much things have stayed the same.
About the thousands of miles I’ve run since then. And the other experiences I’ve had.
About the places I’ve gone to run. And about the friends that I’ve met along the way.
But for once, I won’t be thinking about the time on the clock.
If you made it down this far, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and if you know anyone else who might enjoy it, please share it and my other posts with them!
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