I officially began training today. I've decided to use the same program I've used in the past only I will be using a modified version of the advanced program. It consists of running 7 days a week with one day off every other week for 20 weeks. I will max out around 65 miles with my longest run being 28 miles. Interval training will begin at one day a week then increase to 2 days a week as the program becomes more intense. I revised my schedule slightly to include cycling and or going to the gym at least one day a week. I've also added a few days off or swapped out easy runs for cycling. I'm hoping this will keep me from getting burnt out which usually happens mid way through. I've decided to make adjustments accordingly as my training progresses. Since I've never trained with this intensity or mileage I'll be learning as I go.
Another decision I've decided has been to alter my pace for long runs. Most programs encourage runners to to do long runs 90-120 seconds slower than their 10K pace (this is often 45 seconds slower than expected race pace). However, I've read several articles that say to run the second half of the long run at race pace. This supposedly gets your body used to running at that pace while it is fatigued. I'm going to try this but will change it if it begins to take a toll on my body.
I'm pretty excited about my new training regimen but of course there are worries. The first being injury. I've never run more than 35-40 miles a week so this type of increase will certainly have some effects. Pounding away on the pavement for up to 65 miles in a week will most likely bother my knees and chins. I'll have to try to run on dirt trails and stretch routinely to prevent this from happening. My second concern is getting burnt out. Usually after 12 weeks in I'm ready for the marathon to be over. My body is tired, my food bills are high, and I just get bored. I'm hoping that setting such a high goal for myself as well as recording my experiences on this blog will keep me motivated. In an attempt to combat the repetitiveness and boredom of the training, I will try to find new places to run as often as possible. Unfortunately this will most likely only happen on the weekends but I think by keeping things new and exciting I will be able to keep motivated. Lastly I worry about missing runs. Currently I only work part-time which definitely helps but the summer is sure to bring about lots of fun weekend activities. Any plans of fun races, camping, biking, vacation or weddings will be sure to hinder my training. At least this is something I can control. It won't be easy but marathon training will have to come first.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Choosing the Right Course
Running a marathon in under 3 hours isn't going to be easy, especially for someone whose previous best time was 3:39, so I've decided I need all the advantages I can get. I believe that choosing a flat and fast marathon will help out tremendously. I originally thought I'd run the California International Marathon in December. Bart Yasso said this is an extremely fast marathon since there is a -300 ft elevation change. However the more I thought about it the harder I believed it would be for me to run. Living in Colorado requires a lot of patience with the weather and training into December would mean a lot of running in the snow (since I refuse to run on a treadmill). Between training in the snow and having an average of low 40 degree starting temperatures helped me forget this race. My search soon led me to a page on the Boston Marathon's website. This page breaks down marathons by the number of Boston Qualified finishers and the percentage of finishers who qualify. At this point I looked at a number of things. One, I want a race that will be near sea level. Since I'm training at elevation, this is another advantage I will need. Two, I want to run a race in a new area. If I'm going to be traveling I'd like to see something new. Three, overall elevation change shouldn't be too drastic. And four, it has to be in the fall.
Breaking down the list.
1. Boston Marathon. Obviously I have to qualify for this race first.
2. Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon. This race is very close to the town I grew up in so I know the roads fairly well. After looking at the course map it looks like it would be a pretty boring and ugly run. Not to mention I'd like to see something new.
3. Bay State Marathon. I couldn't really find much wrong with this race.
4. Road to Hope. Its in Canada, need I say more?
5. Pocono Mountain Run. This race is in May.
6. Steamtown Marathon. While many think it would be great to run a marathon that is mostly down hill, they don't think about the toll their quads and knees will take. Changing -3000 ft in elevation might be nice, but if my legs aren't used to all that downhill then I don't think it's worth the risk.
7. Wineglass Marathon. This is the one. Its flat, Runner's World claims it to be one of the fastest, and it's in the fall. I like that the race is in the beginning of October too. This means I won't miss any training for the weddings that I have in October. Being in NY also means my family and girlfriends family will be able to go there for support. And we all know that support is HUGE, especially when you hit the wall and are hurting. Now that I know my race, let the training begin!
Breaking down the list.
1. Boston Marathon. Obviously I have to qualify for this race first.
2. Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon. This race is very close to the town I grew up in so I know the roads fairly well. After looking at the course map it looks like it would be a pretty boring and ugly run. Not to mention I'd like to see something new.
3. Bay State Marathon. I couldn't really find much wrong with this race.
4. Road to Hope. Its in Canada, need I say more?
5. Pocono Mountain Run. This race is in May.
6. Steamtown Marathon. While many think it would be great to run a marathon that is mostly down hill, they don't think about the toll their quads and knees will take. Changing -3000 ft in elevation might be nice, but if my legs aren't used to all that downhill then I don't think it's worth the risk.
7. Wineglass Marathon. This is the one. Its flat, Runner's World claims it to be one of the fastest, and it's in the fall. I like that the race is in the beginning of October too. This means I won't miss any training for the weddings that I have in October. Being in NY also means my family and girlfriends family will be able to go there for support. And we all know that support is HUGE, especially when you hit the wall and are hurting. Now that I know my race, let the training begin!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
NYC Marathon 2008
Its strange how sometimes you think you can be ready for a race but for some reason its just not your day. This was one of those races. I'll admit, my training wasn't the most rigorous this time around but I shouldn't have hurt as much as I did for this one.
This was surprisingly my least favorite marathon out of all the one's I've run. I blame it on many reasons but I believe a lot of it had to do with the training. I began my training shortly after moving to Astoria in Queens. Like most of NYC, Astoria is flat, covered in pavement, and lacks any sort of running park. This meant that Monday through Friday we had to run on the sidewalks through the city. Constantly stopping for cars and lights was a pain but the monotony of the runs was the worst part. I trained with my girlfriend and a mutual friend of ours every morning and no matter which new route we tried it all looked and felt the same. We managed to get out of Astoria on the weekends and did long runs in Central Park or along the West Side Highway which helped a lot. However, this just wasn't enough to keep my interest. On top of the boring training those particular 4 months were filled with plenty of non running activities. I sacrificed one long run to do an urban adventure race. Although I ran in between each point and did a half marathon the following day, none of it made up for the 18 miles I should have ran. I took a trip to Las Vegas the following month. I had a great time on the trip but missed another long run and several days to recover from the amount of drinking I did. Less than one month after that my older sister got married. I tried to get in a long run the day before the wedding but it had to be cut short to make our train.
Race day didn't treat us much better. Once again we were loaded onto a bus and driven to Staten Island where we arrived over 4 hours before the race. Normally a situation like this would be a minor annoyance but that day was freezing cold and windy. We brought several extra layers and managed to find a good spot to sit in an alcove but it wasn't enough. Both my girlfriend and I sat there literally shivering for nearly 3 hours until the sun rose. We arrived at the starting line excited, tired, and tight. Again I wanted to run a 3:40 marathon so my girlfriend would qualify for Boston so we started off fast, too fast. Its easy to get caught in the hype of the marathon and the excitement of the crowd and that's exactly what we did. After mile 6 we slowed down to a much more comfortable pace but the damage was already done. The week before the race I idiotically made a dive on a wooden gym floor during a volleyball and hurt my knee. It caught up to me by mile 10. The pain would come and go and was tolerable until mile 15 and for the first time in my life I thought about quitting during a race. My girlfriend talked me out of it and we kept going. The rest of the race was like most marathons, painful, and it kept getting worse. We crossed the finish line, barely, in 3:49 and it wasn't a pleasant run for either of us. It's a shame that this race left such a bad taste in my mouth. The NYC Marathon is supposed to be one of the greatest to run because of the crowd and the atmosphere. After the race I could barely remember anything after Brooklyn and that certainly isn't how I wanted it to be.
I can sit back now and point out a lot of things that went wrong with that race. I guess it's the nature of any sport. Everyone has bad days now and again. The only thing I can do now is to fix those mistakes and hope I wake up feeling good and ready for the next time.
This was surprisingly my least favorite marathon out of all the one's I've run. I blame it on many reasons but I believe a lot of it had to do with the training. I began my training shortly after moving to Astoria in Queens. Like most of NYC, Astoria is flat, covered in pavement, and lacks any sort of running park. This meant that Monday through Friday we had to run on the sidewalks through the city. Constantly stopping for cars and lights was a pain but the monotony of the runs was the worst part. I trained with my girlfriend and a mutual friend of ours every morning and no matter which new route we tried it all looked and felt the same. We managed to get out of Astoria on the weekends and did long runs in Central Park or along the West Side Highway which helped a lot. However, this just wasn't enough to keep my interest. On top of the boring training those particular 4 months were filled with plenty of non running activities. I sacrificed one long run to do an urban adventure race. Although I ran in between each point and did a half marathon the following day, none of it made up for the 18 miles I should have ran. I took a trip to Las Vegas the following month. I had a great time on the trip but missed another long run and several days to recover from the amount of drinking I did. Less than one month after that my older sister got married. I tried to get in a long run the day before the wedding but it had to be cut short to make our train.
Race day didn't treat us much better. Once again we were loaded onto a bus and driven to Staten Island where we arrived over 4 hours before the race. Normally a situation like this would be a minor annoyance but that day was freezing cold and windy. We brought several extra layers and managed to find a good spot to sit in an alcove but it wasn't enough. Both my girlfriend and I sat there literally shivering for nearly 3 hours until the sun rose. We arrived at the starting line excited, tired, and tight. Again I wanted to run a 3:40 marathon so my girlfriend would qualify for Boston so we started off fast, too fast. Its easy to get caught in the hype of the marathon and the excitement of the crowd and that's exactly what we did. After mile 6 we slowed down to a much more comfortable pace but the damage was already done. The week before the race I idiotically made a dive on a wooden gym floor during a volleyball and hurt my knee. It caught up to me by mile 10. The pain would come and go and was tolerable until mile 15 and for the first time in my life I thought about quitting during a race. My girlfriend talked me out of it and we kept going. The rest of the race was like most marathons, painful, and it kept getting worse. We crossed the finish line, barely, in 3:49 and it wasn't a pleasant run for either of us. It's a shame that this race left such a bad taste in my mouth. The NYC Marathon is supposed to be one of the greatest to run because of the crowd and the atmosphere. After the race I could barely remember anything after Brooklyn and that certainly isn't how I wanted it to be.
I can sit back now and point out a lot of things that went wrong with that race. I guess it's the nature of any sport. Everyone has bad days now and again. The only thing I can do now is to fix those mistakes and hope I wake up feeling good and ready for the next time.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
My 3rd
I ran in Philadelphia for my third marathon. A lot of people claim that this is a fast and flat course but I disagree. Although my best time came from this race, I doubt it was from its "flatness". It started with a friend of mine back in NYC who ran his first ever marathon here in approximately 3:15. He said he thought it was nice fairly flat. Maybe it was compared to his training in Central Park. However neither of us believed that to be true after running it in 2007.
This was the first marathon I ran with my girlfriend (since she waived her NYC Marathon entrance after paying $140 to run with me). We used our usual training schedule from previous marathons and stuck to it fairly well. She ran track in high school and college and her first marathon in sub four hours so we were relatively the same speed. Neither of us had plans to run super fast so we both figured training together would work out well. Our training schedule called for us to run 5 days a week with Sundays and Thursdays off. Originally I was worried that reducing my training 1 day a week would affect my time but it actually worked out nicely. We ran together once or twice a week because of different work schedules but always did our long runs together on the weekend. When we ran together we were never very competitive but if I ran in the morning and told her my pace she always made sure to match it on her run in the afternoon. I think this was part of the reasoning it was my fastest marathon. I never thought much of my training pace until the week before the race I ran into my friend in CP who was training for Philly. He was trying to qualify for Boston so our pace was around 7:20 for 5 miles or so. I never even thought about making it to Boston until afterward when he told my sister that he thought I was capable of doing it. Apparently he didn't notice my labored breathing during the run. Still it got me thinking. I knew I wouldn't be able to run a 3:10 for Philadelphia but his encouragement made me want run faster than originally planned. I set out to run a 3:40 and help my girlfriend qualify, only I didn't really mention this idea to her.
Race day started off like any race in the Northeast in mid November, cold. To make matters worse rain was in the forecast, and if you haven't run in the rain let me tell you that it's not a pleasant experience. The start of the race was chilly but dry and we brough a large cheering squad. We began around an 8 min pace, faster than we trained for long runs. Immediately my girlfriend got worried, I assured her we'd be fine at that pace even though our running styles are completely different (she likes to start slow and get faster, I like to start fast and keep that pace). The first half of the race was fast despite the rolling hills and we ran it in 1:50 or about 8:20/mile. This part of the course took us through downtown Philly then over the river and through a more rural area near some local colleges. All in all it was nice section. After that the things got worse. The temperature slowly dropped and it began to drizzle. The second half of the race took us out of the city. Six miles out, turn around at a cone, and 6 miles back. The stretch of road had a large rock face on one side and a river on the other making for a poor viewing area and very desolate of spectators. At mile 16 (and mile 22 after turning around) a group of college kids were handing out beer. I felt good at the time and thought how great it'd be to grab one on the way back. Around mile 17 my girlfriend needed to go to the bathroom. For the first time during a long run or marathon I didn't need to make a pit stop. I asked if it was OK that I left her and keep running and she agreed (I still feel bad about doing that but my legs felt good and I didn't need to go). Within 3 miles of ditching her I hit the wall. There was going to be no beer for me. It was shortly after the turnaround when it hit me and I started to realize why, I just ran the last few miles at a slight decline which meant I had to run back up. I can't remember if I walked during the race but I imagine I did, like any marathon it was painful. It's tough running with no spectators and even worse, no running partner. I muscled through the wall keeping a close eye on my watch with the hopes of a decent time.
Watching the clock and cheers from the crowd while running back into the city helped me finish. I made the woman's qualifying cutoff time for the Boston Marathon in 3:39. While it's not a huge feat for many, I cut my previous best time by over 13 minutes and I was happy. Afterward I met up with my friend who claimed Philly was a fast race and he told me the course changed from the previous year, of course this was after Runner's World published an article on how fast the course was. He didn't qualify for Boston that year and retracted all the statements he made about the Philly Marathon. Maybe it was the altered route or the cold rain, but I didn't meet anyone who ran well that day. It makes me wonder, how did I run my PR there?
This was the first marathon I ran with my girlfriend (since she waived her NYC Marathon entrance after paying $140 to run with me). We used our usual training schedule from previous marathons and stuck to it fairly well. She ran track in high school and college and her first marathon in sub four hours so we were relatively the same speed. Neither of us had plans to run super fast so we both figured training together would work out well. Our training schedule called for us to run 5 days a week with Sundays and Thursdays off. Originally I was worried that reducing my training 1 day a week would affect my time but it actually worked out nicely. We ran together once or twice a week because of different work schedules but always did our long runs together on the weekend. When we ran together we were never very competitive but if I ran in the morning and told her my pace she always made sure to match it on her run in the afternoon. I think this was part of the reasoning it was my fastest marathon. I never thought much of my training pace until the week before the race I ran into my friend in CP who was training for Philly. He was trying to qualify for Boston so our pace was around 7:20 for 5 miles or so. I never even thought about making it to Boston until afterward when he told my sister that he thought I was capable of doing it. Apparently he didn't notice my labored breathing during the run. Still it got me thinking. I knew I wouldn't be able to run a 3:10 for Philadelphia but his encouragement made me want run faster than originally planned. I set out to run a 3:40 and help my girlfriend qualify, only I didn't really mention this idea to her.
Race day started off like any race in the Northeast in mid November, cold. To make matters worse rain was in the forecast, and if you haven't run in the rain let me tell you that it's not a pleasant experience. The start of the race was chilly but dry and we brough a large cheering squad. We began around an 8 min pace, faster than we trained for long runs. Immediately my girlfriend got worried, I assured her we'd be fine at that pace even though our running styles are completely different (she likes to start slow and get faster, I like to start fast and keep that pace). The first half of the race was fast despite the rolling hills and we ran it in 1:50 or about 8:20/mile. This part of the course took us through downtown Philly then over the river and through a more rural area near some local colleges. All in all it was nice section. After that the things got worse. The temperature slowly dropped and it began to drizzle. The second half of the race took us out of the city. Six miles out, turn around at a cone, and 6 miles back. The stretch of road had a large rock face on one side and a river on the other making for a poor viewing area and very desolate of spectators. At mile 16 (and mile 22 after turning around) a group of college kids were handing out beer. I felt good at the time and thought how great it'd be to grab one on the way back. Around mile 17 my girlfriend needed to go to the bathroom. For the first time during a long run or marathon I didn't need to make a pit stop. I asked if it was OK that I left her and keep running and she agreed (I still feel bad about doing that but my legs felt good and I didn't need to go). Within 3 miles of ditching her I hit the wall. There was going to be no beer for me. It was shortly after the turnaround when it hit me and I started to realize why, I just ran the last few miles at a slight decline which meant I had to run back up. I can't remember if I walked during the race but I imagine I did, like any marathon it was painful. It's tough running with no spectators and even worse, no running partner. I muscled through the wall keeping a close eye on my watch with the hopes of a decent time.
Watching the clock and cheers from the crowd while running back into the city helped me finish. I made the woman's qualifying cutoff time for the Boston Marathon in 3:39. While it's not a huge feat for many, I cut my previous best time by over 13 minutes and I was happy. Afterward I met up with my friend who claimed Philly was a fast race and he told me the course changed from the previous year, of course this was after Runner's World published an article on how fast the course was. He didn't qualify for Boston that year and retracted all the statements he made about the Philly Marathon. Maybe it was the altered route or the cold rain, but I didn't meet anyone who ran well that day. It makes me wonder, how did I run my PR there?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
My second Marathon - New York City
After recovering from my first marathon in NJ I decided I was ready for another one. Since watching my sister in the NYC Marathon was my inspiration for running I figured this is the next one I wanted to run. I applied to the lottery with 80,000 other entrants and miraculously got in. I've heard stories of people doing this for years and not getting selected so I was excited. My sister, her boyfriend, and another one of our friends also got in which was helpful since we all lived close to one another. I increased my training to an intermediate program and began running 6 days a week. While I'm sure this helped to some degree, the intensity remained low. I ran with my friend, also named DJ, about 3 days a week which helped. His goal was the same as my first marathon, break 4 hours. My only goal was to break my previous time of 3:54 so I continued to train at a 4 hour pace with DJ.
When race day in NY comes everybody knows it. The race that year had nearly 40,000 runners and over 2 million spectators. Every Italian restaurant booked the night before and there are even more tourists than usual. The day of the race I woke up around 4:30am. DJ and I took a cab from the upper east side down to the NYC Public Library where buses waited to drive people to the start in Staten Island. Since all the cabs were full in midtown we stopped along the way and picked up a random runner waiting for a ride. On our ride down he told us this was going to be his first ever marathon and his goal was 2:45 or to beat Lance Armstrong. Later it came out that he's run several marathons in iron man competitions. Him running a 2:45 didn't seem so impossible after all, however it did make me feel pretty slow.
After waiting on Staten Island for 3 hours the race started. DJ and I decided we would to try to run together the whole race. Around mile 6 he had to stop and use the bathroom, and I don't mean to go pee. I had a decision to make, either abandon my friend who has been excited for me to help keep him on pace and probably break my previous time or wait for him and run it together. I decided to wait. Although it seemed like forever since I had to watch thousands or runners pass by, DJ was in and out in a record time of 2 minutes and we were off again. The race went fairly smoothly even though we started off 45 secs/mile faster than our pace. Around mile 18 we hit the wall. DJ hit it much worse than I did this time. Its never a pleasant feeling but sometimes its nice to know other people are hurting more than you are. We eventually finished the race together in 3:56. I felt pretty decent for most of the race, much better than I did in NJ, but I doubt I would have run much faster if I ran on my own. It was a great experience and I helped get a friend cross the finish line in under 4 hours.
When race day in NY comes everybody knows it. The race that year had nearly 40,000 runners and over 2 million spectators. Every Italian restaurant booked the night before and there are even more tourists than usual. The day of the race I woke up around 4:30am. DJ and I took a cab from the upper east side down to the NYC Public Library where buses waited to drive people to the start in Staten Island. Since all the cabs were full in midtown we stopped along the way and picked up a random runner waiting for a ride. On our ride down he told us this was going to be his first ever marathon and his goal was 2:45 or to beat Lance Armstrong. Later it came out that he's run several marathons in iron man competitions. Him running a 2:45 didn't seem so impossible after all, however it did make me feel pretty slow.
After waiting on Staten Island for 3 hours the race started. DJ and I decided we would to try to run together the whole race. Around mile 6 he had to stop and use the bathroom, and I don't mean to go pee. I had a decision to make, either abandon my friend who has been excited for me to help keep him on pace and probably break my previous time or wait for him and run it together. I decided to wait. Although it seemed like forever since I had to watch thousands or runners pass by, DJ was in and out in a record time of 2 minutes and we were off again. The race went fairly smoothly even though we started off 45 secs/mile faster than our pace. Around mile 18 we hit the wall. DJ hit it much worse than I did this time. Its never a pleasant feeling but sometimes its nice to know other people are hurting more than you are. We eventually finished the race together in 3:56. I felt pretty decent for most of the race, much better than I did in NJ, but I doubt I would have run much faster if I ran on my own. It was a great experience and I helped get a friend cross the finish line in under 4 hours.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Attempt #1 - Long Branch Marathon, NJ
I've run 4 marathons so far but never attempted to run one in under 3:10 (Boston qualifying time). My first marathon was probably the most memorable for me. I didn't train properly or have proper clothing but I was determination got me through. My older sister had run about 6 marathons at that point but was unable to break 4 hours (although she did run 4:00:21). Her boyfriend at the time, now husband, had also run a handful of marathons but never beat my sister. At some point during our trash talking with him he decided to make a bet with me. All I had to do to win the bet was run faster than my sister at the Long Branch Marathon in NJ. I began running in Newark, NJ with a friend who stopped running shortly after. I trained about 5 days a week through the streets in Newark (not recommended for many reasons) but rarely completed my long weekend runs. I used to cut short long runs for various reasons including weather, laziness, or just miscalculating the distance. Three quarters of the way through training my sister invited me to do a 17 mile run with her in Central Park. I jumped at the opportunity to run somewhere besides Newark despite the fact that my longest run was only about 12 miles at that point. We began our run on a sunny Sunday morning. She was perky the whole time as usual but after 10 miles I started hurting. Around 14 miles into the run without Body Glide, the inside of my thighs started to chafe. My legs hurt and my thighs burned. I was close to stopping but in doing so I would be admitting defeat and my ego wouldn't allow that. I finished the run but walked around like an 80 year old man for the next few days while all my friends made fun of me. My sister was fine.
When race day came I knew I was under prepared and nervous. Luckily the weather was beautiful and plenty of friends and family came to cheer me on. I started the race running with my sister and her boyfriend. We ran at a leisurely but comfortable pace for the first half. I felt great at the time and slowly pulled away from the two of them. Around mile 18 I started to get tired. I passed another runner, Tina, who was walking but she didn't look nearly as tired as I was. I gave her a few words of encouragement and she began running with me. We chatted for a few minutes about how we both wanted to break 4 hours then I slowly started pulling away from her as well. Near mile 20 it hit me, the dreaded wall. I started to walk. After jogging and walking for another 2 miles Tina caught up. She grabbed me and forced me to start running again. We decided to run the rest of the way but walk through water stations. This was fine with me, I got to rest for 30 seconds every mile or so and didn't have to worry about spilling water all over myself. Eventually we made it to the finish line in 3:54, and most importantly in front of my sister. My girlfriend ran over to congratulate me at the finish and told me she was inspired to run a marathon herself. Sitting there in the most pain I've ever been in, I simply looked her straight in the eye and said "Don't! This was the worst idea of my life."
When race day came I knew I was under prepared and nervous. Luckily the weather was beautiful and plenty of friends and family came to cheer me on. I started the race running with my sister and her boyfriend. We ran at a leisurely but comfortable pace for the first half. I felt great at the time and slowly pulled away from the two of them. Around mile 18 I started to get tired. I passed another runner, Tina, who was walking but she didn't look nearly as tired as I was. I gave her a few words of encouragement and she began running with me. We chatted for a few minutes about how we both wanted to break 4 hours then I slowly started pulling away from her as well. Near mile 20 it hit me, the dreaded wall. I started to walk. After jogging and walking for another 2 miles Tina caught up. She grabbed me and forced me to start running again. We decided to run the rest of the way but walk through water stations. This was fine with me, I got to rest for 30 seconds every mile or so and didn't have to worry about spilling water all over myself. Eventually we made it to the finish line in 3:54, and most importantly in front of my sister. My girlfriend ran over to congratulate me at the finish and told me she was inspired to run a marathon herself. Sitting there in the most pain I've ever been in, I simply looked her straight in the eye and said "Don't! This was the worst idea of my life."
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