The first one is always special. Whether itâs a first date, first kiss, first job, first day of school, or in my case, the first run of the year, the first one always means a little more than those that follow. Some people approach that moment with more reverence or with greater preparation. Others just take the leap without overthinking it. Some confidence is necessary; too much can be detrimental.
My inaugural race to kick off 2017âand my marathon yearâwent something like this.
On Friday my wife and I picked up the kids from school.
âDad, why are you here? You never pick us up from school; youâre usually at work.â
âOh, I got off early today, and weâre going out for an early dinner.â
âWhere are we going, and why are we eating so early?â
âYouâll see!â
As we exited the highway, our six-year-old daughter asked, âWhy are we at the airport?â
My wife and I didnât say anything. I pulled into long-term parking and turned off the car. âWeâre getting on a plane right now and flying down to San Diego. Weâre going to LEGOLAND tomorrow. And dad is running a marathon on Sunday!â
âWoohoo! Wait. Dad is running a marathon on Sunday? Cool!â
What the kids didnât know was there was a âMarathon Mileâ at LEGOLAND for them to run Saturday morning. When I registered for the Carlsbad Marathon I discovered an offer for discounted tickets to LEGOLAND and early entry to the park. Heck, yeah!
On Saturday morning, the entire family geared up and ran a mile together (with about a thousand other families) through LEGOLAND, which was a pretty special experience. Now you may be thinking, Why are you running a race the day before a marathon and also planning to be on your feet all day long? I get it; this might not be the best pre-race strategy, but sometimes you have to compromise and do whatâs best for your family. For me, that meant spending Saturday going on almost every ride and seeing every attraction. After a long day of fun, both kids fell asleep in the car as my wife drove me to pick up my race bib, packet, and other registration goodies.
It was 6:00 p.m. I had run a mile that morning and been on my feet all day long, in the sun, and now it was time to prep for 26.2 miles. My motto is, if youâre early, youâre on time; if youâre on time, youâre late! So I planned to get up at 3:30 on Sunday morning, have breakfast at 4:00, and be on the shuttle to the start at 4:45, leaving plenty of time to get situated at the start. But first, we needed to get back to the hotel, clean up, and find somewhere to eat dinner that night.
I have friends who get to a marathon location two or three days before a race and donât do anything at all for those daysânot even leave the hotel. My thinking is if youâre so dialed in and something does go off course, itâs difficult to get back on track because youâre on such a regimented plan.
Sunday morning my alarm and wakeup call rang out in perfect symmetry. We were staying at the âofficialâ race hotel for the marathon, but for some reason they didnât have an early breakfast for the runners. Like I said, I try to go with the flow. Instead of my usual oatmeal, I had some dry cereal (They only had milk and Iâm a vegan.), two bananas, and a piece of bread (no toaster). Thankfully, I had a packet of almond butter for some protein.
Some marathons are only a marathon. And some marathons have a half-marathon attached, which is a good way for race organizers to get more people signed up, get them to the expo, and get more people in front of vendors and sponsors, products, and advertising, which creates a more festive atmosphere in general. The thing was, the marathoners donât see any of those half-marathoners because they usually have a later start time. Regardless, my focus was on my race, the first of the year!
In case you havenât already guessed, I signed up for the Carlsbad race feeling a little bit too confident. Iâd just run my personal best marathon a month before and figured I could sail through this race without much training.
And for a while, I was sailing. But around Mile 18, things got ârealââas in really hard. We were running along the highway right above the beach, and the headwind was intense. Iâd kept up with the 3:45 pace group, which had whittled down from twenty to about three runners. Any chance of blocking the wind for each other was out the door.
And then it happened.
I saw my family at Mile 19. My two children shook cowbells, and my wife gave me a big beautiful smile. Their encouragement gave my internal batteries the boost they needed. I gave them each a kiss and kept running. It doesnât matter what race it is, or what my time is, I always stop and give my family a kiss when I see them on the course. This drives my wife nuts. She always tells me to âget a good timeâ or âhurry up and get back with the pack,â but I donât careâtheir support and love matter more to me than any number.
The last seven miles were pretty rough, as they usually are, because your body is breaking down and you can smell the finish line. At that point in my training, I was still following the âAdamâ not-much-training program. I hadnât yet made the full commitment and didnât fully understand what I needed to do this year. Running a marathon a month was new, and I was quickly learning it was time to step up my game.
I caught up with the 3:45 pace group, got enveloped into a huge sea of half-marathoners, rode their wave to the finish, and completed race number one of 2017 in 3:43.
What did I learn?
Life is unpredictable. Make your training and routines function the same way, so you can easily ebb and flow during race weekend if you have to.
If I was going to meet this running goal, there would definitely need to be some long runs in my training.
For any future marathons I run, Iâll have to check to see if thereâs a half associated with the race. Nothing against half-marathoners, but the last miles can be very congested with so many people.
Smiling when it hurts and when youâre tired has an awesome effect on your energy level. Smile, smile, smile!
Sunday afternoon we enjoyed some brief pool time then headed to the airport and flew home! The next marathon was twenty-seven days away.
Ideas to Consider and Share
Has there been a time when youâve packed in a ton of activities before a race or activity? How did you perform? What did you learn? Did being that busy help you for next time?
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