Almost Like The First Time

The feeling of finishing the 2009 Long Beach Marathon felt almost like it was my first. Attempting something new just two months before the event is not exactly good training advice, but out of necessity, I had to do it. I’m talking of course about the run/walk method. Even with that training technique, I still thought I would only be doing the half marathon because I did not believe that my right ankle can take the punishment of running 26.2 miles. So deciding just days before the event to attempt the full marathon felt like doing it again for the first time. My first two marathons were run with a shuffling gait and through the years as I got better, it turned into a full stride until I reached my peak in 1992. Shuffle, full stride, and now run/walk. All techniques which had taken me from the starting line to the finish line 26.2 miles later. This latest marathon may have felt like number 1 again, but the difference was that I knew what to expect in the later miles when the going got rough. That part I can attribute to having experienced 25 prior marathons. I thought I had the best ever marathons when I ran 3:30 in 1991 and 3:28 in 1992, after which I retired from racing, but finishing the 2009 Long Beach Marathon in 4:50 can compare with my fastest ones as the best ever because I feel just as fulfilled. Comparing it to my first marathon in 1980, I feel just as relieved.