Just last week I ran the Omaha Marathon. I "planned" on starting off slow and increasing the pace as time went on. "Planned" is the word. I started off slow but it was just too much effort to go slow so I just went with what I felt. My results were a bitter sweet.
I planned on starting with a 8:20 pace but switched to a 7:40 pace which I actually maintained for 23 miles. For me this was a huge deal! As sweet as that pace was, the bitter part came right at mile 23. My legs were so exhausted from running at a pace that I wasn't use to that they just gave out. I tried forcing myself to keep running and would collapse every 50 yards. I had to sit for over 30 minutes before my legs could move at a walker's pace, and then jogged the rest of the marathon.
I ended up finishing much slower than I wanted but I did run 23 miles at a 7:40 pace, which is 40 sec faster than my PR. I feel like it was a successful marathon because although I finished much slower than I'm use to, I was so close to PRing. Next race I will hopefully run farther at a 7:40 pace and eventually complete the race without collapsing.
This style of racing/training is very common with Kenyans and helps you learn to push through the hard mentally and physically.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
The begining of a marathoner
To give a little biography about myself as a runner I'm going to take you back to my school years.
At a young age I was very obese. My parents were always careful approaching me which the overweight topic. They would kindly ask me "do you need that extra piece of cake?" or "are you still hungry?" I would get so mad and eventually they didn't bring it up anymore.
The students were brutal while at junior high and high school, and I could expect to be bullied almost everyday because of how fat I was. It wasn't till my senior year of high school that I had enough and made a decision that would kick start my path to becoming a marathoner.
My one strong point that I had was my determination. As a little kid I always finished what I started. The issue was actually starting something. My senior year of high school I decided I had enough of being picked on and decided to join the high school wrestling team. I have to admit I was terrified, because I knew that once I started I would finish. For those of you who don't know much about wrestling, it's the hardest sport in high school. My first day of practice I lost 10lbs (mostly water weight but still!!!). With wrestling something click from me and I was very successful. By the end of the season I had dropped down from 215 lbs to 185 lbs and went to the South Carolina State Championship. From that point on I gained the confidence to run and pursue things I normally wouldn't even consider doing.
After high school graduation, I took my confidence and my new athleticism to college with me. During my senior year of college I saw one of my friends from theater/drama running a lot. When I asked him if he was running for he explained to me that someone told him he couldn't run a full marathon and that he should stick to a half marathon and then move up. He took this as a man-challenge and decided to sign up for the full. After hearing about this man-challenge I wanted in! So I signed up for the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon at Virginia Beach along with him. I finished in 4:05. All the training and pushing past that 22 mile marker made me feel like I was on top of the world! I was hooked.
After graduation I commissioned as an officer in the USAF and immediately signed up for my 2nd marathon. Since then I have been running marathons once a month. I am still a new runner and am learning so much about myself and the tricks to running. I'm excited to be a marathoner and I couldn't be happier.
-Jake
At a young age I was very obese. My parents were always careful approaching me which the overweight topic. They would kindly ask me "do you need that extra piece of cake?" or "are you still hungry?" I would get so mad and eventually they didn't bring it up anymore.
The students were brutal while at junior high and high school, and I could expect to be bullied almost everyday because of how fat I was. It wasn't till my senior year of high school that I had enough and made a decision that would kick start my path to becoming a marathoner.
My one strong point that I had was my determination. As a little kid I always finished what I started. The issue was actually starting something. My senior year of high school I decided I had enough of being picked on and decided to join the high school wrestling team. I have to admit I was terrified, because I knew that once I started I would finish. For those of you who don't know much about wrestling, it's the hardest sport in high school. My first day of practice I lost 10lbs (mostly water weight but still!!!). With wrestling something click from me and I was very successful. By the end of the season I had dropped down from 215 lbs to 185 lbs and went to the South Carolina State Championship. From that point on I gained the confidence to run and pursue things I normally wouldn't even consider doing.
After high school graduation, I took my confidence and my new athleticism to college with me. During my senior year of college I saw one of my friends from theater/drama running a lot. When I asked him if he was running for he explained to me that someone told him he couldn't run a full marathon and that he should stick to a half marathon and then move up. He took this as a man-challenge and decided to sign up for the full. After hearing about this man-challenge I wanted in! So I signed up for the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon at Virginia Beach along with him. I finished in 4:05. All the training and pushing past that 22 mile marker made me feel like I was on top of the world! I was hooked.
After graduation I commissioned as an officer in the USAF and immediately signed up for my 2nd marathon. Since then I have been running marathons once a month. I am still a new runner and am learning so much about myself and the tricks to running. I'm excited to be a marathoner and I couldn't be happier.
-Jake
My journey as a Marathoner
My name is Jacob (or Jake if you like).
I decided to start this blog to motivate others as well as myself, to continue running marathons, chase after our goals, and never be satisfied.
I hope that the posts I write draw others to ask and answer questions, so that we can help mold each other into better runners.
-Jake
I decided to start this blog to motivate others as well as myself, to continue running marathons, chase after our goals, and never be satisfied.
I hope that the posts I write draw others to ask and answer questions, so that we can help mold each other into better runners.
-Jake
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