San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon

Although this post is mainly about my quest to complete a marathon, it's my hope that it might help inspire my small group of readers to pursue something that they didn't believe was possible for them to achieve or that they thought was maybe "too hard".

The marathon, 26.2 miles long, is one of those things I looked at in amazement as people would attempt such a huge challenge. In watching televised marathons, usually the Olympics, I would imagine what it would be like to be the one crossing the finish line. And as I watched I knew with absolute certainty that I would never ever be one of those people. It's not like I exactly have the thin and lanky body type that you see most distance runners have. My preference is swimming, which tends to develop the upper body. If anything, I'd say I was built more for a 26.2 yard run.

Somewhere along the way I changed my viewpoint. I went from "that's impossible", "I could never run that far", "I'll never be able to do that", to "I can do it". It came in little steps.

1. My niece trained for and finished the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in 4 hours 29 minutes 16 seconds in 2006.


2. A couple of summers ago I was on the treadmill next to Italiphil and we were working our way up to running more than 2 miles at a reasonable, steady pace (well I was - for him it was no biggie). I thought I was gonna die but Italiphil kept going, encouraging me to do the same. I survived. That August he and I completed our first Aquathlon, a 1000 meter swim followed by a 5K run.


3. I read a book by Jeff Galloway about how to run a 1/2 marathon using his run-walk-run method.

The book made sense and sounded reasonable so I began training, using Galloway's methods and his training plan. The plan was the key. By sticking with it and making progress, I began to imagine not just doing a 1/2 marathon but a full, 26.2 mile marathon. I finished my first 10K (6.2 miles) ever in November, which I never thought I could do, and started to view the marathon as possible. Got Galloway's marathon book and changed plans! In February I finished my first 1/2 marathon, seeing it as further evidence that I could do more.

It has not been easy but when it went from "impossible" to "I can" (and I want to), the only things that were going to prevent me from making it were injuries, my own physical limitations, or life's unexpected curve balls. It was a mental thing and I began to believe. Having the drive to stick with the plan and the determination to see it through are some of my strengths. Having Mrs Sladed be not only tolerant of my crazy obsession, but supportive and understanding made all the difference. If she had been negative about it I know I wouldn't have been able to see this through.

As the marathon played out, it turned out to be more difficult to complete than I imagined. During mile 20 I felt myself starting to fade. By mile 22 I was seriously having doubts that I would finish. The quads were hurting so badly the last mile I didn't think I'd be running to the finish line. I'd tried to trick myself into ignoring the discomfort but nothing worked. In the end it came down to my own pride and expectations, and knowing that there were thousands of spectators watching, including Mrs Sladed, Son 1, and Son 2 (and, as I found out later, the senior Mr and Mrs Sladed too.)

Although my mile splits* (see below if you wanna see that boring trivia) didn't really tell the tale, I was fading fast. The finish couldn't have come soon enough: 4 hours 29 minutes 12 seconds. Turns out that I achieved not only my primary goal of finishing in under 5 hours but also my secondary goal of breaking 4:30. Am I pleased? Yes. And the further away I get from those last miles, the more pleased I am!

In the afterglow of the event I'm happy that I chose to change what I believed about myself. And I'm happy I chose to master the "I can't" that held me back instead of settling for something easy or comfortable. And that is what the spirit of the marathon is about: to do something you never thought possible, setting incremental goals, and pursuing and achieving your final goal of completing 26.2 miles.

*Mile splits - 10:49, 11:06, 9:42, 10:13, 5th mile 10:09,
10:10, 10:14, 10:22, 10:25, 10th mile 10:42,
9:20 (downhill), 10:01, 9:35 (downhill), 10:02, 15th mile 9:32,
9:46, 9:51, 10:12, 10:06, 20th mile 10:40,
10:30, 10:14, 23rd mile 11:09, 10:23, 25th mile 10:48,
10:50, last .2 miles - 2:09

**278th of 659 men aged 50-54, 3,556 of 7,948 men, 5,462 of 16,373 finishers.