All motivation has been lost. Didn't do any of the run camps this summer and found it hard to get out there and do it. Before I knew it, it was time again, Marathon time. Out of curiosity, checked how many miles of training I dedicated to the past few years previously training for this Marathon, the result almost three hundred less miles! Ugh.
Marathons always have a certain level of nervousness associated with them. Today, is a whole new level. I'm sure most would expect the distance to be the biggest concern, but the head game is hoping not to have my worst Marathon time.
Crack goes the gun, will my untrained legs be next? Going out a my normal pace would lead to certain disaster, knew I had to dial back. Four miles in, the temp was in my favor, figures the year I don't train. I was trailing the pace group that I would normally start either with or slightly in front of. That alone was a moral victory, that they were still within eyesight.
By mile ten, sped up enough to be in the pace group. Up until this point, didn't even need any water because of how cool it was, but also knew it wouldn't last for much longer because it was warming up.
Mile sixteen started the dreaded stretch. It's a pretty trail, but feels more like a death march. Entering it, always brings back bad memories and at this point, the feelings of lack of training really started. Is this what it feels like taking out a loan you know you can't repay back? Borrowed time. Mile eighteen as much as I resisted, the end was approaching. Made it to mile twenty before the walk of shame started. That's when I really shut it down. Bye pace group.
The remaining six miles were a mix of walking, trotting, soul searching, cursing the lack of training. Crossing the line resulted in a bit of surprise too. For as bad as I expected it could have been, it honestly wasn't THAT bad. Squeaked in under 3:40:00, which I've trained and done worse than that!
Lesson here, didn't enjoy being un-trained. The fact that I somehow pulled it off doesn't change that I told myself, won't be doing this again!
