iCandybyWangC

• Going out of one’s mind as success factor •

[1½ MIN READ]

Most people would consider it insane to run a marathon, I can qualify the conditions for the term a little.

Sylvia was a Growlers noob at the beginning of September. At the time, she shared that she was a first-time marathon trainer with her registration submitted for Philadelphia Marathon in November, 2 months thence. With 11 weeks of training to go, she was well on her way: She ran weekly with GGR for 3 milers, she ran long distances with SRC, she cross trained, and she listened to my excessive advice on how to use cadence breathing to help her avoid going out too fast. What was so impressive about her training was the discipline that she applied; perhaps a carry over from high-school days as a student athlete.

Sylvia ran AACR Philadelphia Marathon on 11’24’U. I ran with her as a personal pacer and she was happy with the idea of a familiar presence. As far as the race strategy, she planned to stick with the 4:20 pace group for a target 4:20 race time. She executed that plan for the first 6 miles then started picking up her pace. When I met her at mile 18½,* she was ahead of the pacer but whupped. She was done, in her mind. As she started flagging, I encouraged her about her ability to finish well, regardless of where she was relative to the pacer. Then as the pacer passed and we closed in on mile 24, she went out of her mind and did the impossible: She slowly started picking up the pace again. At the last half mile, she launched into a sprint that left me struggling to match pace. She finished at 4:18:51—a minute under her goal—astonished and elated.

*My failed attempt as a personal pacer. READ and COLLAPSE

I recruited myself with a bunch of justifications, including no other fall marathon on my schedule, 14-mile Saturday long runs in my back pocket (see SRC again), and measured confidence that my training could comfortably place me at her pace. And there was even more motivation to fall train because of several other new marathon trainers (Philadelphia and other races), my own will to offer an experienced marathoner’s training presence, and my sucker’s instinct for social running opportunities. Marathon as a fun run! As an unofficial runner, my plan was to catch her right outside the starting chute. Unfortunately, that plan failed and I didn’t find her until mile 18½…

 

Marathons may seem an impossible achievement for nearly everyone, but a marathon as fun run? Insane x2. And—foremost—a marathon finish when the mind says there’s nothing left in the tank?…
-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative split or positive splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT ¶Likeness used with permission. ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-posted: (1) Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run (2024’12’04’W Run Message), (2) GGR email list, (3) Cerebruns by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Cerebrun with added caption and picture.

 

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