Thursday, November 8, 2012

What is it about the marathon?

That's a question I've been asking myself a lot the past few days. I assume it's normal that during the course of running a marathon, at some point you think "Oh my god, this sucks, I NEVER want to do this again." I also assume that it's normal that a few days (or weeks) later, you think "Okay, when is my next marathon?"

I'm not sure why I have this love/hate relationship with the marathon. I genuinely enjoyed training for the race, and although I didn't like Marine Corp Marathon, I enjoyed the aspect of running a marathon, up until mile 19 or so. But when that "hate" part of the marathon kicks in, it is vicious. As runners, why do we keep subjecting ourselves to this pain? Is it just to see how much we can improve? Why do you keep training and running distance races?

1 comment:

  1. It's called "the wall". Everyone hits it at some point in the race. I've see the sign at Mile 20 of several marathons that says, "Welcome to the START of the _____ marathon". I think it's about taking yourself to the wall, and through guts and determination, learning what you are made of.

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