Still Trying to Be a Runner

Back in 2012 I had quite a stretch goal: one day I wanted to run a marathon. That distance, 26 miles or 42 kilometers, seemed so ridiculous during my early running years. I’ve walked and hiked that distance, sure, on all-day outings that left me exhausted, with multiple breaks and plenty of water refills. Running that distance, though, in six hours, with few (if any) breaks? Or five, or four? It seemed a complete impossibility, until I actually set my mind to it.

It was 2022, a few years into the pandemic, when I finally committed. I was getting close to 40 years old (ugh) and decided that this was the year, before I got any older (double ugh), that I would run one. Armed with 80/20 Running and a healthy respect for the benefits of cross-training, I came up with a full eighteen-week schedule, with a few “buffer” weeks built in for injury or sickness, and signed up for the Whiskey Row race in Prescott. Why Whiskey Row? Well, it sounded fun at the time. Almost as fun as training through the Arizona summer heat.

It was a long season preparing for Whiskey Row. The heat forced me to do my long weekend runs dreadfully early, and I got used to running with a headlamp on, sweating in the predawn darkness, and finishing my runs just as the rest of my house was waking up. I stuck to five to six runs a week, which forced me to double up to fit in my cross-training and left my body completely exhausted. The program also introduced me to speed work and hills, which, in the summer heat, were a new and creative torture. As race day approached, I started worrying about the hills on the course. So I took some of my runs to the high country, driving up to Mt. Baldy, Sierra Ancha, and Pine. That trained me for both the climbing and the elevation of Whiskey Row, and gave me a welcome break from the Phoenix heat.

Then the day showed up, and my parents drove me up to Prescott, and we spent the night in a small cabin outside of town. The race started early—not as early as some of my summer predawn runs—and it took a few miles before the sunrise lit the sky. After a few twists and turns through Prescott, the course climbed into the nearby Bradshaw Mountains on mostly dirt roads, part of over 5000’ of gain across the whole race, and by sheer grit I was able to keep running uphill, passing a few walkers. It wasn’t until I turned around and started back down that my quads gave out and I had to walk long sections to avoid toppling over. Walking was the one thing I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do. Still, I finished in 5:30 or so, and, ignoring those walks and a decent amount of exhaustion, had an absolute ball.

Once I got home I started planning future runs. Completing Whiskey Row was an achievement; however, my main goal, running a full marathon, had eluded me. Figuring that I was already at my peak fitness, I signed up for the Rock ’n’ Roll Arizona Marathon in Phoenix, a wonderfully flat course in the mild month of January, and kept running, down to a few easy jogs per week. I wasn’t ready when the date showed up. My fitness had faded quickly, and I ended up again walking long sections, this time limited by my breathing and knee pain. I finished only a few minutes faster than Whiskey Row, the no-walk goal missed yet again.

After these two races I decided to aim a bit smaller and switched to half marathons. The training was easier, the courses faster, and the recovery much shorter. These were a blast, especially the Vegas runs, when they close down the entire Strip and we runners have free rein of the city.

So, now, where does that leave me? I still want to run a marathon nonstop. Sure, completing one in less than four hours would be really cool, but hey, bodies are built differently, and mine is very lanky and tall and awkward, with a terrible aerobic base. I enjoy the training, the pushes, the learning of my own limits, and if I can build up the confidence and know-how to pick a good pace and stick to it for 26 miles, that would be enough for me, regardless of the time. There are a few courses in the spring of 2027 that look tempting, although I’m waiting to see how this season’s Grand Canyon trips and trail work go. Starting a new training regimen while regularly beating up my body on long, all-day outings is… unwise.

Back in 2012 the goal was to run a marathon. That’s still the goal. I just didn’t realize how much work the word run is doing.