After running my first half marathon last month at the Cleveland Fall Classic I figured I’d take it easy through winter. There’s no need to push hard since my original plan was to finally run a full marathon in 2012. Boy has that all changed quickly!

I recently started receiving Runner’s World magazine and the January 2011 edition has an article listing the “first timer” marathon favorites. To my surprise Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon is listed as one of the top ten marathons for beginners. I kept going back to the page thinking about it more and more. It dawned on me that Kate has lots of relatives in the Cincy area and what better way to have a family gathering that didn’t involve a funeral or wedding than a marathon? That was that. I committed to running a full marathon a year earlier than planned.

I notified family and now on May 1st I will be torturing my feet and body for the greater good of bringing lots of extended family together in The Queen City. Training starts now. I sure hope I know what I’m getting myself into. No backing out now. I am officially registered to be one of the 16 thousand plus runners.

Stay tuned.

I finally snuck in a little time to update my portfolio. A few new tidbits like a brand and stationery set for an HR consulting group and a website for children’s book that I whipped up in two days.

Go check it out.

So back in June of this year I wrote about my rapidly approaching milestone called the big FOUR-O set to make its appearance in 2012 and with that I laid out the plan to run a marathon for this momentous occasion. I set off on this journey by pealing my butt off the computer chair by starting the “couch to 5K” program that is advertised to ease people into running where eventually you’re running a 5K after like 10-12 weeks. Of course me being an Apple guy with an iPhone I got an app for that and immediately began the training. Ten weeks later I was running my first official 5K. Yeah, I’d say the training program worked as advertised. Obviously the next step would be a 10K. Obviously. Of course there’s an app for that as well. I went through the next training program during which I obtained a lovely congested cold making it difficult to breathe and a family vacation to the beaches of South Carolina simultaneously. Luckily after the cold and vacation I had three weeks to finish training to run a 10K race that I absent-mindedly preregistered (paid) for before leaving on vacation. No backing out from that. My motivation was to run hell or high water because I am not just throwing $30 down the drain. I placed a check mark next to that 10K accomplishment.

After those two races I only planned on training through the winter and then run the Cleveland 10 Miler which I hear is a big deal around here. It never really crossed my mind that I could run a half marathon before this year came to a close, but then I started adding an extra mile or two to my runs to the point where I was just a 5K within running a half (13.1 miles). That is when the running bug dug in deep with its fierce mandibles and held on for dear life because just three weeks ago on November 1 I ran my first 13.1 mile distance. A week later on November 8 I registered to run the Fall Classic half marathon in Strongsville on November 21. Did you get that? After only running the distance once I registered to run a half marathon. All 13.1 miles of it in a Northeast Ohio November. What was I thinking?

In that three weeks time I ran the 13.1 distance two other times for a grand total of three times of running this distance before the race. My fourth time would be the race! I was running this distance around the two hour mark so I thought piece of cake. No injuries. Piece of cake. My route has hills that gradual and some quick steep varieties. 13.1 miles is a piece of cake. I was all cocky and high on myself. The weather looked like it was going to hold out all week long. Score.

Race day. Sunday, November 21, 2010. It starts off great. I did not hear my alarm. I scramble to get out the door by 7 because I’m on the eastside having to drive all the way to Strongsville knowing that it’s at least 45 minutes away. I arrive at the designated parking location a quarter of a mile away from the starting point at 7:45 a.m. (that’s just cruel without a shuttle bus). Race starts at 9. It’s a lovely 37 degrees out with a breeze. A bit cold when you’re standing around roaring to run. Finally the time arrives to start so everyone is amassed at the starting line. We stand there impatiently for 10 minutes before someone with the all powerful bullhorn provides a simple message of “we’ll kick off soon.” Thanks. That was helpful.

Then we were off. I tried so hard to start off slow and steady. Well you kind of have to be slow otherwise you’re stepping on someone or bumping into one another a lot. It’s like a horse race jockeying for position on the first turn. You see people weaving everywhere. It’s chaos at the beginning of a race. Eventually it thins out and people can finally get into their pace. Again, I tried to be slow so I would have the final kick to finish strong. Nope. I was running 6:00 to 8:00 minute miles. I was burning too much too quickly. Damn you Army training for planting the seed to run fast at all times no matter what. The great thing about this race was that it was a relatively flat path and it was a back and forth loop. You got to see everyone that was behind you. I felt better when I saw pretty much half of the competition behind me through 95% of the race. I say 95% because on the last couple of miles I began to hit my wall which means the people that were smart to pace themselves started passing me. I’m not a very competitive person so it didn’t bother me that people were passing me. Sure I would have liked to stay in front of them, but I was smiling somewhere inside that I knew something they didn’t (any Princess Bride fans out there?) which is I’m not left handed — okay not that — it’s that this was only my fourth time ever running this distance. Yes I burned out too early and yes I hit a wall and yes I need to learn how to drink the water they hand you better  so I don’t look like moron throwing it all over my face, but dang it I finished a damn half marathon in 2:00:23 without ever stopping once and this was my FOURTH time running this distance. Okay I’ll stop with that now. I’m proud of myself for completing a half with only four weeks of training. I’m halfway there! I never thought I would get to this point so soon.

A big thanks goes out to my wife for being my support because without her I can’t do this. She stays at home with the kids worrying like crazy about me I’m sure, but she has NEVER complained about all of this time I take to do what is essentially a selfish thing. There is a lot of time that has to be invested in this and without the support I don’t know how anyone can accomplish something like a marathon. I love you Kate and thank you!

So what’s next? I have no idea. Might just continue running a few more 13.1 mile runs. Everyone is giving the opinion of run a full next year. I’m not sure yet honestly. I need a little time to let this one sink in. The bottom line is this. I’m half way there.

And now for the pics (taken by my awesome wife):

The cutest cheering group ever!

Running.

Can they just bring the finish line to me?

So close to passing out, but the kids prevented me from it.

update: Official results were finally released! I finished better than I originally thought. Under 2 hours! See here for complete convoluted results. Look for bib number 181. 36th out 50 in my age bracket and 332 overall.

November 21, 2010. Mark the date. I will be running, or rather attempting to, run my first half marathon. All 13.1 miles of the Fall Classic in Strongsville. I think I’m ready for it. I’ve ran the distance twice now and with the last run I made the distance in under 2 hours. I’m a little nervous, but can’t wait to run this. Hope the weather holds and no colds/illnesses/injuries come my way in less than two weeks till race day. Stay tuned.

So this past Saturday, October 16 to be exact, I ran my first 10k. That is 6.2 miles for those without a calculator. The race, Midtown Cleveland HealthLine Classic, took place in a beautiful area close to downtown Cleveland through Playhouse Square and on Euclid with the massive bus lanes. Awhile ago when I was trying to figure out what would be my first 10k after my 5k I originally thought of doing the Towpath 10k, but that would have put me right on the same time as completing the training for a 10k which I thought better of. Even though I’ve heard that the Towpath is an awesome race through some beautiful areas of the Cuyahoga Valley I just knew I didn’t want to push my luck with this. That is why this past 10k was convenient. The timing felt right for my training. I had a vacation in September into October which I ran some, but more about that in a minute. I used another “couch to” app to train only this time I started off following it to a T, but then after I think 2 weeks of it I was already running 6.2 miles. Barely. Right about the time for me to go on vacation I came down a massive cough. I couldn’t fill my lungs very well and just the cough alone was driving me from not running. I did pull off one last 6.2 miler right before leaving, but that was rough. While on vacation I could only manage to run 3.1 miles at most. The heat and humidity did not help the congested lungs at all. While one 3 mile beach run wasn’t too bad it was after that run that I was all she wrote. I managed one more 3 miler and then one lone 2 miler for wrap up in a week of vacation. I started fearing that I was not going to be able to run the 10k on October 16.

Glad those fears went away. I worked my butt off to get back into 10k shape 2 weeks before the race. I even ran one time in the rain just so I was prepared for this kooky Cleveland, Ohio weather just in case.

I ran twice that week of the race, but then I rested for two days before the race. I’m so glad I did that. It helped. I usually have been going every other day for runs, but an extra day of rest helped in this case. Race day couldn’t have been anymore beautiful and perfect out. 55 and sunny. Flat course. Not many runners. I will certainly run this race again. Loved it. The scenery was awesome.

The most memorable thing about the run was that my four year old daughter had made the request to cross the finish line with me. Of course how could I resist that? I ran a couple of minutes above my usual pace and sure enough at the end I crossed that line with my daughter’s hand in mine. A moment I will always cherish.

The time: 55:36 with an average pace of 8:57/mile. 79th overall (out of 140) and 9th place out of 10 in my age group. (I was a full 5 minutes faster than the last place for my group.) I was also faster than several people almost ten years younger. I am very happy with the results. Especially since I had only been training for a 10k 6 weeks prior to the race.

Next up… Quite possibly it will be the Cleveland 10 Miler, but till then I will be out there building up to 13.1 mile runs.

P.S. About the title of this post. Since I started this goal of one day running a marathon I am now close to dropping 30 pounds of weight off this frame. I am stunned by that thought. Stunned. All of those early runs with carrying that additional weight just blows my mind.