(Estimate: 7-9 minute read time)

Have you ever pushed yourself to the point you can’t control your thoughts or physical being? Have you ever taken your abilities past their limitations and seen the human possibilities that were never to have thought to exist within? Have you journeyed to what appears the end, but come to realize you have only begun?

I have taken myself to these limits. I have pushed my being to points I never thought I could accomplish. Never did I think I could defeat the overwhelming desire to quit when every ounce of myself wanted to. The moment I completed the task at hand with what felt like no power in my physical being and no reserves of mental support remaining…

…that’s when I started balling my eyes out.

This, my friends, is the power of completing a marathon.

26.2 miles. 42.195 kilometres. Either way it is an extremely long distance to cover by putting one foot in front of the other time and again. The incredible part is that YOU can accomplish this. No matter your health or fitness level currently, YOU can accomplish this feat that only a small percentage of the human population has.

Let me share the story of my first marathon and hopefully, it will inspire YOU to set this monstrous goal and became a different person for the rest of your life. So, please read the entire story and comment afterward with your thoughts and questions…enjoy….

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We were sitting around, getting drunk at someone’s house back in the Fall of 2005. I was in my senior year of college and sat around 205 pounds. I lifted weights a lot and played basketball frequently. I barely ever did any cardiovascular workouts other than basketball. That was until, that drunken night, my buddy told me about a race he did that day. It was a 5k running race through Land Park in Sacramento, California. He told me his time and I said I could do that. Our egos started to immerse in the conversation. Obviously, we were drunk college guys. So, now that I had stroked my own ego claiming my physical prowess, I signed up for not just a 5k, but a 10k Turkey Trot to double his feat.

The race was only about 3 weeks off and I had never run more than a mile and a half straight. I began training by running a 5k at full speed. About a mile in, I died and jogged the next mile and a half and walked the last half mile home. I started to second guess myself. That next morning was painful. I thought I would never heal. The soreness was incredible. And to think I had only done, honestly, about 2 miles of real “moving” (not so much running). But I kept with it and raced the 10k. My dad showed up and said I was probably the first guy in basketball shorts and a t-shirt to finish compared to the real runners who were properly geared out. I finished with a time of 42:39. I was exhausted, but exhilarated. I had moved past the competition with my drunken buddy and moved on to the high of running. The feeling was amazing. I wanted to keep this natural high FOREVER. No matter what I had to do.

Those words would come back to haunt me.

I kept up some running over the winter and come Spring, I was introduced to the world of running even more. I focused on balancing my workout regiment and became more toned and healthy. I dropped to under 200 pounds, while retaining my strength and agility. My male bravado began to grow again and I decided to train for a marathon.

I was still arrogant and dumb, so I didn’t read anything or research any good marathon training practices. I just ran a little farther here and there and ran two 15 miles training runs. But really didn’t train properly.

That lack of preparedness would also come back to haunt me.

I waited to sign up for the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon until the packet pick up day because I wanted a chance to bail out if I didn’t think I was ready. I still wasn’t ready, but I signed up anyways.

The morning of the marathon, I don’t think I realized the severity of the decision I was making. I was going to be running 2/5’s farther than I ever had and those 15 mile training runs were tough. I stretched and ran a few up and back’s to warm up. It was only the second year of the marathon so there were probably around 400 people which is fairly small for a race like this in a city. The gun fired and we were off and running.

That initial running would be the next thing that would come back to haunt me.

The first 10 miles were not bad. There were fans, friends, family, and pissed off motorists along the route. Everyone was feeling pretty good. There was this “hot chick” that was running around my pace that I would try to impress by tightening my abs and run as though I was an actual runner. We were doing 2 loops so at the 13.1 mile mark, we would continue past the start/finish line and run the loop again. As I approached this mark, I realized that many of the people I had been running with for the last hour and forty minutes were stopping. Something I didn’t realize was that there were people just racing a half marathon. So I had been pacing with people that were doing half of what I was going to do.

This is where being a cocky 22 year old would come back to haunt me.

The runner’s WALL came quickly. I truly wasn’t prepared and I was realizing this FAST. The first time I started walking was around mile 16. That was my first big mistake. I started cramping and didn’t understand the twitching show my body was performing. I started running again but that wouldn’t last too long. Around mile 17.5, I started jogging and walking sporadically.

The toughest part was that there was no support. There was water and sports drinks throughout the course, but the supporters were long gone and I was running all alone for long lengths of time. There was a bike crew that would check on runners throughout the curse. They disheartened me more and more each time they would ride past me with grins ear to ear (come to find out the lady bike riders told me afterwards they liked my abs which is why they grinned—-so I wasn’t as pissed at them following the race).

There was a part where we would run out and back along the same part of the route. I easily could have cut about 2 miles from my run on the second loop, but decided I would only be cheating myself. That was easily one of the hardest decisions I ever made in my life. Cheating would have been so easy. Fortunately and Unfortunately, I decided not to cheat and trudged onward.

The killer around mile 20 was when the “hot chick” passed me. I probably looked like a zombie with the horrible jogging form and drool slowly falling from my mouth. The “hot chick” slowly pulled away from me and I went back to walking.

That’s when all of the emotions went haywire.

I thought to myself, “How could you let some “hot chick” pass you?” I was mildly hallucinating. I was exhausted. I had no support. I swore off ever running again. I swore (to myself) every person that passed me. I hated running. “I am a fit person. This shouldn’t happen to me!” I wanted to cry. I wanted to stop.

Then I realized I had gone so far and would not give up. I would win this battle if it killed me.

The last 3 miles were brutal. I was running alone most of the time and I would walk 100 yards and then run 100. I tried to run after the last water table around 1.5 to go, but pushed to early. I could see the finish about a half mile away and decided I would give whatever little I had left to that half mile. As I approached, the finish there were all these people smiling and being all joyous. I never hated happy people more than at that moment. I appreciated their support, but they hadn’t been through the gates of hell with me and they wouldn’t understand it’s physical and mental wrath.

A few steps before the finish a cow mascot for the race stepped in front of me to give me a high five. I could see fluids on a table just passed the finish and that table was my destination. I pushed the cow aside and crossed the line at four hours, six minutes and some change.

I grabbed the nearest fluid which was a bottle of tea for some dumb reason and, literally, it went straight from bottle into stomach and what felt like my limbs within 2 seconds. There was no time for gulping. Just straight funnel into body. Some high school girl put this cowbell on a string around my neck as it was their idea of a metal. I thought I would collapse from the immense weight of this half pound ‘award’.

With 3 sports drinks in hand, I stumbled to the glorious food table. I grabbed whatever I could. The women working the table looked at me like I was crazy. But I needed FOOD. I  shuffled about 10 feet from the food table and began swallowing bread rolls whole, sucking orange slices dry and munching stacked granola bars.

Then the real fun began. I tried to go to the ground, but couldn’t. I was telling my body to sit down, but my body was not responding. It was half hilarious and half disheartening. I was saying to myself, “Just fall down.” But I couldn’t even do that. And later I was thankful because I would never have gotten up.

The “hot chick” walked by and said good job. The sad part was I could barely mutter any common sense to her despite my earlier desire to impress her in whatever way possible. Now that’s funny. She continued on with what appeared to be her family.

I strolled towards my truck, which I had unfortunately parked about a half mile away, and stopped in my path.

…That’s when I started balling my eyes out.

I had no control. Just a flood of tears continuously falling from my eyes. All of the emotions had overcome me. Happiness. Sadness. Pain. Sense of accomplishment. All at once. I would cry for 5 minutes straight in that park, then stop for a few, then start balling again. It was one of the greatest feelings I have ever had.

Accomplishing this marathon proved to me that I could break any barriers if I just kept going. Don’t give up. Remembering that pain is temporary, but accomplishment is forever.

Do you really know how few people put themselves through the pain and agony to accomplish something like a marathon? It is very few. And I had become one of them. Finally!

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And this is why I write this. I write this to prove to YOU that YOU could do this too. YOU could accomplish the great fulfilling feeling of finishing a marathon. It will take time. There will be pain. But for the rest of your life, you will know that YOU can do anything, if YOU commit your entire being to it.

I hoped you enjoyed my story and I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, comments, or anything else, feel free to comment by clicking here.

Have a fit day….

Dave
LifeExcursion