Eugene, Oregon – Sunday, May 4, 2008 – Sunny skies, 45 degrees at the start, 65 degrees at the finish. Fresh green grass. Wilamette River on one side of the path, dense trees on the other. Who could ask for a more perfect day or location for a marathon?

I wasn’t sure what I’d be writing about today with regard to my marathon experience. Did I run my target time? Nope. Was I disappointed? Oddly, not really. Am I really sore today? Let’s just say that stairs are not my friends today. Did I give it my all? You betcha. Did I run the race I was meant to run? Of course – to believe anything different would be crazy.

Sometimes we can have the best training ever, do everything right leading up to the race – and even during the race – and… (more…)

All the things I’ve been talking about in my blog up until now converge these few days before the Eugene Marathon. I’m now in the home stretch leading up to race day, and as I prepare for the actual “event,” I reflect on the past 6 months of training:

How you do anything is how you do everything: I commit to a goal, I stay focused, I am disciplined, I manage my time, and I persist until I succeed.

You can’t do it alone: Rarely does anyone achieve any meaningful success on their own. Coach Scott has worked with me for the past 6 months helping me get stronger both physically and mentally. My husband, who often asks, “Can’t we just go on a vacation without having to run a race?” has hung out with me on my long runs setting water along the path so I didn’t have to carry a waterbelt. My kids and friends have listened to me talk about my track workouts, my tempo runs, and my long runs – even when some of them don’t know what the heck I’m talking about.

Everyday we’re tested: I’ve trained through a cold and snowy Idaho winter – one of the coldest in a long time (I hear). I thought training in Idaho would be a piece of cake compared to training in Chicago during the winter. Idaho was no bargain. Cold, snow, ice, rain, wind. I probably ran only half a dozen runs… (more…)