Yes, I am actually doing a blog and my first blog does have something to do with running. I am registered to run in the 2011 Boston Marathon in April. According to my girlfriend thats about 14 weeks away. I competed in my first marathon 1 year ago today. Needless to say, when you take on something as grueling as a 26.2 mile race, some nervous thoughts are going to creep into your mind. I definitely don't consider myself an expert on the subject, since I've only done one marathon, but for some reason I have a feeling that most people would get nervous before a marathon. At my first marathon, which was in Mobile, Alabama, I began to get nervous a few weeks out, probably around 2 weeks out. I got even more nervous after arriving in Alabama and yet even more nervous when we discovered that the weather was going to be freezing for the race. When I finally stepped foot on the starting line I was ready to just turn around and go back to my hotel room. I was ready to just say, "Forget this, I'll try again some other time." Instead, the gun went off and I was in for the experience of a lifetime. I had never run over 20 miles before that I know of and at the start of the race I was sure that I would probably never do it again if I survived it this time. Like I said earlier though, "experience of a lifetime." Sometime during the almost 3 hours that I was running I decided that it wasn't that bad. Sure my legs were hurting some, sure I was really tired, but all I could think of was that I was doing something that I didn't think I would ever do and I was going to finish it. Finishing a marathon will give you a sense of accomplishment that is undescribable. Not only did I get a sense of accomplishment just from finishing, but I also got the satisfaction of actually qualifying for the Boston Marathon in my first marathon. I had officially made the qualifying requirement for the most prestigious marathon in the United States. Another awesome quick fact: the person that convinced me to actually do a marathon, my girlfriend, also qualified for the Boston Marathon that day.
Enough reminiscing, lets get back to the present. New marathon approaching fast. My first chance to run in one of the biggest marathons in the US. The nervous thoughts are back. I think in the second attempt at a marathon the nervousness comes from something else though. Not the nerves of doing something that you've never done before, because now you have. You know that its going to hurt and that its a long race. You know that you're going to be extremely tired and your legs are going to be dead for two days. This time the nervousness comes from wanting to do better than the last time. I have wanted to do better in my next marathon since finishing the first one. Now with only 14 weeks left, the thoughts of that possibly not happening start to creep in. Nervous thoughts of what it will be like to be in a race with 24,999 other people. The biggest race I have ever been in has probably been about 1,000 people. The Boston Marathon will be 25x that. It's definitely going to be interesting, that's for sure. Here goes nothing is all I can say. Hopefully some warm weather will come in and it will make training for Boston easier, but if not, then we just do the best we can with what we're dealt. It is always good to be a little nervous going in to a race though, so if you find that you're getting nervous about an upcoming race, don't let it keep you from doing it altogether because it could end up being the experience of a lifetime for you. Good luck with whatever race you have coming up in the future.
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