I Finished a Marathon

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my goals for this summer was to complete a marathon. I had originally planned on completing a marathon on July 24th, the Deseret News Marathon in Salt Lake City, Utah. As I approached the date, I realized that I would likely need a few more weeks of training before I could complete it. I determined to do my own marathon distance, without entering a marathon race. I chose to run this race in the beautiful Batelle Darby Creek area southwest of Columbus, Ohio.

I completed my marathon at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park. There are some great trails there, though they are fairly short. The longest is  about 4.5 miles, so I had to repeat a few trips.

I wasn't sure what the weather would be like, so I woke up pretty early (2:30 AM) and began my marathon in my neighborhood. I walked 10 miles there until the sun started to shine, at which time I drove to the park to complete the next 16.2 miles.

One of the trails at Darby Creek Park. It is a pretty park with some nice trails.

A few notes from the marathon experience:

• Rain - It actually rained off and on for most of my marathon. I ended up using an umbrella to try to avoid getting my feet wet, which could have caused more blistering.
• Frogs - I probably saw 27 frogs while completing the marathon. I walked by a couple of snakes, too, which was a little disconcerting.
• Pain - One of my friends described his first marathon as "excruciating," and I now know what he meant. The last 3 miles were incredibly painful, which really surprised me. This kind of pain something I would not like to experience anytime soon.
• Books - I listened to 2.5 books during the marathon. This is a great way to learn and exercise at the same time.

This is around mile 15. I was still feeling pretty good at this point. I am looking old.

When I came home from the marathon, I was feeling pretty messed up. I stopped by Chipotle for a Veggie Burrito, showered, and fell asleep for 4 hours. Later that night when I woke up, I found that my feet were so sore that it KILLED to walk on the cracks between the tiles in our kitchen. That was weird.

I am happy that I accomplished my goal to complete the marathon this summer. It took many weeks of training, and I still didn't feel quite prepared for the difficulty. I had set a goal to complete 36 miles on my 36th birthday, but at this point (the day after the marathon) I am not too sure. As far as completing another marathon, I may likely try it again, but I'm pretty sure I won't do it for quite a while.