The first race of the season is a mere five sleeps away. Unfortunately, the clever NFL Season Challenge moniker I dubbed it is in fact false, because the race is not taking place on last day of the season, Superbowl Sunday, as per usual, because this Sunday is not Superbowl Sunday, it’s next Sunday, February 13th, Hannah’s twenty-third birthday. Instead, I will have run the Surf City marathon on the first weekend of the NFL season (9/11) and next to final weekend of the NFL season (2/6) Pro Bowl weekend. Clunky, but fine. Regardless of what cultural Americana significance the race falls upon, all I care about is that I will be romping around in my own personal paradise from 6:30AM PST to 10:something AM PST this upcoming Sunday morning.
As a quick refresher, I ran this exact same race (course) last September in 3:43 hrs. ‘Twas not my best day, but I wasn’t racing it, I just wanted to run it because marathons are my favorite, and the timing of it folded in with Ironman California training quite nicely. Therefore, I didn’t approach it as a race, but as a “Spirited Long Run.”
September Surf City Finish Line: Screen left, Marathon chute, screen right, Half-Marathon chute.
Well, that race gave and tooketh away my spirit.
It served its purpose of jumping me back into marathon running, it hurt and rejuvenated my soul, but I was not in shape to run it for real, (as it was meant to be run), as a marathon race, and that gnawed at my conscience.
However, the instant I received the email that it was back to its normal pre-COVID programming of being held in early February, I signed up, and alerted Hillary that I wanted another crack at it with the intent to race it for real.
Dublin Marathon, 2003, my 4th marathon finish, and favorite race of all time... so far.
This upcoming Surf City will be my 58th marathon, the umpteenth I have prepared for under Hillary’s guidance, and one of the most valuable ramp ups to date. The workouts were fun, challenging, specific to nailing down my desired pacing (something I will report next week, after the race) and I enjoyed and grew from every single one of them. In essence, I feel better than ever approaching race day.
Post final marathon-pacing set feels last Sunday.
It will still hurt.
Marathons are always, always painful, from head to toe, by way through the heart, but they're a riddle I relish trying to figure out. I've been at it for over twenty years, still stubborn, still determined, and still excited to line up for another shot on Sunday.
Let's GO!!
The song choice this week is one of the greatest pump-up anthems of all time, it was a hit on the charts when I ran my second marathon (March, 2003) and the artist will be performing on Superbowl Sunday.