Back of the Packers

I found an amazing blog tonight that talked about slow runners like me. I know, some of ya'll are probably thinking I am doing pretty well. Yes, I am shooting for a goal pace of 10 minutes per mile during the marathon, but 26.2 miles is a forever long way!

I would love to be able to put up a 10:00/mile pace for 26.2 miles. If I could do that, I would truely be amazed at my progress & know that God gave me wings to fly the marathon! I am realistically shooting for 10:00.mile for maybe the first 13 miles. After that, I expect quite a bit of taper on my per mile pace. The glory of this is, no matter how fast or slow I run the Paris Marathon, there are a couple guarantees:

1 - I just ran my first marathon... I set a personal record.

2 - If ya'll help, WE will have raised a good chunk of change for cancer research

3 - I can cross this off my list of things I want to do before I die

After trying to do a Google search to find out why when I feel slow I am actually running faster & vice versa, I stumbled across this guy's blog. His name is Jason, and he is a definate motivator for me know!

See, Jason was like me. He was fat & felt fat. He did what he had to do to lose the weight. Jason's now a lunatic who runs ultramarathons... distances of more than 26.2 miles. He ran 12 marathons in a year! That blows me away! New goal for me? LOL!

Anywho, I found a blog on his page that talked about "back of the packers" or people who run slow marathons. I will probably be in that category at Paris, so the story piqued my attention. The article was about a debate that these slow runners aren't really running a marathon cause they aren't pushing themselves. I equate this to running a marathon with an iPod.

See, alot of marathons are outlawing iPods, claiming that the mental portion is part of the challenge of the marathon. I say, you are the challenge of the marathon. Whatever you need to get you through the long hours of running, the sore muscles, and the mental challeges you face while preparing & running a marathon is what you should be doing!  A marathon is not a mythical beast to be conquered, but rather a milestone in someone's life.

Check out Jason's blog & really check out the article about the "back of the packers" by clicking HERE.  Show Jason some love while you're there too!