Finishing a Marathon

So yesterday I completed the marathon, although I pretty much fell apart for the final 10K. I haven't ever had to push myself through anything so painful in my entire life. On the flip side, my 10 mile split was faster than any 10 miler I've ever run. I guess more training would have paid off in those final miles. Check out the splits.

6:09:48

I wonder if that will define me, the marathoner, forever. I never want to run that far again. The pain I was in afterward more than offset any endorphins running through my system. I just want to do 5Ks, and only 5Ks, for the next year. All 6 of us are running the Strawberry Stride next month. With Alora moving to Atlanta this summer and Brittan perhaps off to Spain it may be last chance for us all to do a race together. I'm just glad everyone is so excited about it! Running is a lifelong sport and I believe an activity intimately associated with our humanity.

Eddie Izzard recently finished running 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa. He had a mishap somewhere along the way and so had to run 2 marathons back to back on the last day. One of the things that kept me going during the race was the thought that if Eddie Izzard can run 2 marathons in a row, then I can surely run 2 half marathons in a row. One of the things that really inspires me about Eddie (beyond his brilliant wit) is that he takes on challenges that he finds interesting - like performing standup in foreign languages and running multiple marathons - regardless of whether that fits the mould of a standup comedian. Not that Eddie really fits in any mould. Or me for that matter.