Running 59:42

Running a marathon is a multifaceted endeavor, anyone who has run one may understand what I am talking about even though they may never have given it much thought.  To some people it could be as simple as, I think I can do this, then they try, and find out if they did or didn't do it.  For me it could be as simple as that and actually once was but well not anymore, I am not sure if it is because I have grown up or matured a little more since my more frequent running days or if it's just because I have been into a lot of in depth thinking as of late. So anyway that's what this is about or rather what I am trying to make this about so I am a get cracking and dissect into the multitude of stages one faces when running a marathon.

The Pre-Marathon Stages.

These occur from the moment you decide to join a marathon up until the point that you actually begin running.  The way I see it there are three stages here, the enthusiastic stage, the preparation stage, and the poised stage.

The enthusiastic stage pretty much overlaps the other two pre-marathon because barring any serious injury or reason to back out from the said marathon lets face it you ARE excited for it to start, just as you are eager for any other thing that is out of your reach due to time.

Then there is the preparation stage, this is when you actually start preparing for the marathon and covers anything and everything you do that will have to deal with the marathon prior to it actually commencing, that is from carbo-loading, trial runs, purchasing of gear for the marathon, making sure your shoes are okay, maybe paying off your little sister to be a human alarmclock making sure you wake up in time for the race.  All of which helps in more ways than one because it pretty much pumps you up and gets you rearing to go for the marathon.

The last of the three is the poised stage and this occurs only minutes before the start of the race, when you are confident you are going to do this, everything seems in order, you know you are not backing out, you've  passed the point of no return and to sum it up you have got your game face on.  Up to the point that the starting gun goes off that is, then everything changes.

The Marathon Run.

These next stages have a sort of free for all character in of themselves throughout any marathon, by which I mean they come at you in all sorts of different ways and instances during a marathon.  They may come all at once, it is possible that none may come at all, and as for order well there is none because they are pretty much dependent of an individual's psyche.  So lets run them down, there is the steady stage, the little-engine-that-could stage, the psychologist stage, the what-the-hell-was-I-thinking stage, and lastly the stage of revelation. Again there is no proper order to this so lets go through this by my personal account.

The steady stage, this one starts from the moment the gun goes off up until you and everyone else running settles in to their individual pacing.  In my case this is immediate because I fall under the category of slow and steady wins the race so from the start I do not do the mad dash for the front of the pack like some people do.  I run the pace I know I can maintain for as long as I can which is on average 1 kilometer per 5 minutes for about 12 kilometers, 15 tops and thats pushing it.

The next stage would be the little-engine-that-could stage, I would like to think this is the stage where you begin realizing what EXACTLY you got yourself in to.  It would normally happen in one of two situations, first would be on the stretch along the route where you can place your self in the pack, in other words when you realize how good or bad your pacing actually is.  The other would be on the stretch of the route that lets you see the daunting task you have ahead of yourself, normally the first long stretch of the route that every marathon has.  In the one I recently ran it was the 5 kilometer stretch which was literally half the race already.

The psychologist stage is the first example of a stage that may revisit you several times throughout a marathon.  Some people say that in any activity you get yourself into it is half physical and half mental, I am a believer of this and though I like using the word "mental" (cause it sounds fun, say it, MENTAL) for this purpose the word psychological would be better suited.  So yes I am saying that you have to be psychologically prepared, especially if you run a 10 kilometer marathon after over a year hiatus from any serious running.  During this stage you sometimes literally start talking to yourself and depending on how well you have prepared yourself psychologically you may start urging yourself on with the positive perks for finishing a race or you may actually be consoling yourself already for what you know is inevitable failure.  Either way you feel yourself competent enough to be a self-practicing psychologist and really start listening, arguing, and actually calming yourself for the undertaking at hand, and it helps.

Then there is the what-the-hell-was-I-thinking stage which speaks for itself, it pops up anytime you feel any sort of pain, ache, strain, or happen glance back.

The last stage, non negotiable because it is always the last stage in or during a marathon is the stage of revelation.  If you  know about the book of revelations then you must get my correlation already, but for those who do not well this stage can go two ways.  The first is when you reach the home stretch and KNOW that no matter how slow or fast you are running, that very last ounce of adrenaline that you are squeezing out of yourself will be used to check off another item on your bucket list the moment you cross that finish line on your own capacity.  The second which is not as impressive would be the moment your body (not you, but actually sometimes you under the excuse of that it is your body) gives up and you have to sit down on the side of the road till a marshall, red cross official, or a good samaritan comes over to help you get back to the organizing area but as far away from the finish line as possible, for obvious reasons.

The Post-Marathon Stages.

At this point the marathon is over but, yes there is a but there is ALWAYS a but even when people say there is no but and so the but here is that the stages of a marathon continue.  To be frank and a little more general the last few stages are the ever after stage, the gorging stage, and the again-what-the-hell-was-I-thinking stage.

The ever after stage is a stage dependent on how you did during the marathon and is immediate after crossing the finish line with the sole given being fatigue because no matter who you are after running any amount of distance there is some fatigue just more in some than others.  I then mean dependent because it will be different for each runner, joy, sadness, any emotions in between for reasons that start with finishing or not finishing to coming in first or getting a blister midway.  This stage is centered about it being over though for good or for worse, happily or sadly, one point could be that you made it, ever after.

The gorging stage is the sustenance stage post-marathon in which you feel either that you deserve it or that you have earned it to the point that you will want to get whatever and as much as you want as long as it makes you happy (or is trying to make you happy again after not doing well or not finishing at all).  It may be noted that this does not necessarily need to refer to food by definition sustenance is basically a source of strength so whatever wets your whistle goes.

This last stage has no real timetable and can actually happen the day after to even years later.  It could be triggered by a simple ache, running into a familiar face you can not place but was actually the cutie (with a great butt) that kept you running, an inuman (drinking) session story, or simply your best friend telling you that  he signed you up for another marathon so that he has company.  With or without regret that would be the again-what-the-hell-was-I-thinking stage.

And that is all there is to it, the numerous stages people (or maybe just me) go through when running a marathon.  On a final personal note to get to this point was a long road, no pun intended.  Running a marathon is no easy feat and does take some serious thought before even being considered.  This is where I say that the lessons of perseverance and will power that I saw embodied in characters like the little train that could and people like my mom are some of the best teachers anyone could ask for.  Hope it helps/helped in one way or the other.

Oh and lastly 59:42 if any of you were wondering was my ACTUAL clocked time at a recent 10km marathon I joined, I just figure a time input would make a more drawing title.  Cheers!