Saturday, October 17, 2009

Physical and Mental Garage Sale

Day 55

Boston Qualifying Training. Earlier this week the Marinich's decided to have a Garage Sale. Both Kim and I think that it is important every year to clear out the things that have accumulated and move them along, hopefully picking up a few bucks along the way. What does not sell finds it’s way to Goodwill, where it might help someone else that is in need.

The best part is that it is a cleansing opportunity, an opportunity to reflect, remember a time or moment that has past.

While pulling out the sale items from closets, the attic and basement storage areas you find things that you had completely forgotten about, a favorite toy of the children, or item purchased on a vacation. Moments and memories. Pulling out a coat that I had not wore in a few years, I found a dog hair from our old dog Maggie a great dog, and certainly missed.

As I was rummaging for things to be moved along, I came across my race bibs a 3 inch stack. For years, I have been saving my race bibs. Each race going back to 1994, I would take bib and upon getting home I would write down the date, distance, miles splits and overall time.

My earliest race, July 1994, the Peachtree Road Race, 10K, 48:00 even. Paging through the rather large collection of bibs, I watched as my times dropped, ever so often “PR” would be written on the bib in large letters, I was clearly proud of my accomplishment. Like a child getting a gold start on their test.

As I leafed through the collection I stopped at the Disney Marathon bib. It was 2004. The year prior was my first marathon, though that bib was nothing to recall with fond memories. I had food poisoning the Friday before that race and spent the entire Saturday violently ill. But 2004, I was ready. I had been running big distances and training hard. Likely too hard as I really did not know at that time what I should be doing.

Looking at my times I can see the I ran a typical Bob Marinich race… Fast as hell out of the gates, unable to hold myself back. I remember vividly running the first mile in a sub 6:45 pace and thought, hey this is going to be easy.


Looking at the times I sure I thought I as having a good race, but clearly I did not pace myself.

Mile 13 – 01:33:00 – Strong Pace 7:09 / mile
Mile 20 – 02:35:00 – Pace 7:45 / mile it was already going as the last 7 miles were 8:51 / mile
Mile23 – 03:05:00 – Oh no… what happened… 3 miles, 30 minutes
Mile 24 – 03:15:00 – Another 10 minute mile…
Mile 26.2 – 03:39:59 – Last two miles… 12 minute miles.

Finishing Pace 8:23. I remember falling apart and thinking, “what the heck happened.” I was terrible discouraged. I had trained for nearly 20 weeks. Looking back, it is obvious what went wrong. Too fast in the beginning and died at the end. Smart would have been an easy 7:45 and hold the steady pace.

So as I sit hear cleaning out the old and reflecting on the past, there are some things that need to be moved on. I can not change the past and I can not assume what might have been, but I can change what I do from here on.

I have spent too many races running full out only to die short of my goal. This race in December will be a familiar distance, 26.2 miles and an opportunity to take new approach, to run smarter and to not have to ask what might have been and hopefully put another bib in the stack with PR written boldly across the front.

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