51 Marathons, 50 States + DC ((71 Days til #4 NOLA)) -- Comments Welcome!

[gotrojansgo]

I've always been a big thoughts kind of guy. You know, you lay around, thinking about all the great things you could do in life, but then you never really follow through with them. Not going to lie, I'm also a lazy kind of guy, so I can say that follow through has never really been my strong point.

However, I'm proud to say that I'm starting a new chapter in my life. It's been almost 10 years since I stopped skating, so I figure now is a better time than never to take up a new athletic hobby: running. And what better way to set goals for running than running a marathon, right?

But, per usual, one marathon just isn't enough. I started reading about more, I started training, and now I'm hooked. Absolutely hooked. I love the thrill of race day, I love the idea of racing against the clock and I'm addicted to thinking of ways on how to best my previous time.

Now, this goal is finally coming true. It's finally done! I've got the finalized list of marathons that I will be running over the next several years to accomplish one of my ultimate life goals: 50 states plus DC, 51 marathons.

This is for everyone who wanted to do something but were told that they couldn't. This is for everyone who thought they weren't good enough for someone or something when, really, they were. This is for everyone who never had a dream come true because a thing called "life" got in the way. When I stopped skating, I never thought that I would accomplish anything athletically in my life again. But now, I'm out to prove myself wrong, and I hope you can all enjoy the journey with me.

Completed

1. Walt Disney World Marathon, Orlando, Florida (1/9/11) :: 04:39:36

2. Los Angeles Marathon, Los Angeles, California (3/20/11) :: 04:34:31

- Disneyland Half Marathon, Anaheim, CA (9/4/11) :: 1:59:41

3. Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon, Minneapolis, Minnesota (10/2/11) :: 04:41:18

In Training

4. Rock n' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon, New Orleans, Louisiana (3/4/12)

- US "Other Half" Half Marathon, San Francisco, CA (4/8/12)

Coming Up

Mercedes-Benz Marathon, Birmingham, Alabama

Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon, Anchorage, Alaska

P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon, Phoenix, Arizona

Little Rock Marathon, Little Rock, Arkansas

Pikes Peak Marathon, Manitou Springs, Colorado

ING Greater Hartford Area Marathon, Hartford, Connecticut

Delaware Marathon, Wilmington, Delaware

Publix Georgia Marathon, Atlanta, Georgia

Honolulu Marathon, Honolulu, Hawaii

Coeur D'Alene Marathon, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

Bank of America Marathon, Chicago, Illinois

Indianpolis Monumental Marathon, Indianapolis, Indiana

Marathon to Marathon, Storm Lake, Iowa

Eisenhower Marathon, Abilene, Kansas

Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon, Louisville, Kentucky

Mount Desert Island Marathon, Mount Desert Island, Maine

UnderArmour Baltimore Marathon, Baltimore, Maryland

Boston Marathon, Boston, Massachusetts

Detroit Free Press Marathon, Detroit, Michigan

Mississippi Blues Marathon, Jackson, Mississippi

Go! St. Louis Marathon, St. Louis, Missouri

Missoula Marathon, Missoula, Montana

Lincoln Marathon, Lincoln, Nebraska

E.T. Full Moon Midnight Marathon, Rachel, Nevada

New Hampshire Marathon, Bristol, New Hampshire

New Jersey Marathon at the Shore, Long Branch, New Jersey

Duke City Marathon, Albuquerque, New Mexico

ING New York City Marathon, New York City, New York

Outer Banks Marathon, Outer Banks, North Carolina

Fargo Rocks! Marathon, Fargo, North Dakota

United States Air Force Marathon, Dayton, Ohio

Williams Route 66 Marathon, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Pacific Crest Marathon, Sunriver, Oregon

Philadelphia Marathon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Amica Marathon, Newport, Rhode Island

Myrtle Beach Marathon, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Run Crazy Horse Marathon, Rapid City, South Dakota

LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon, Austin, Texas

Zions Bank Ogden Marathon, Ogden, Utah

Vermont City Marathon, Burlington, Vermont

Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Amica Seattle Marathon, Seattle, Washington

United States Marine Corps Marathon, Washington, DC

Marshall University Marathon, Huntington, West Virginia

Wisconsin Marathon, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Jackson Hole Marathon, Jackson, Wyoming

 

[gotrojansgo]

The original post that started it all:

Hey everyone!

This is my attempt to officially solidify my candidacy for the Walt Disney World Marathon this upcoming January. Long story short, I started training back in April for it and I was getting really serious about it, then I went to New York to intern for the summer and it kind of fell apart for a while. I finally got back on track around the end of July, but I was mostly motivated because I wanted to get in really good shape for a guy that I liked. A month later, the string he was leading me on with was cut and now I've again lost the motivation to do this.

Not anymore.

The goal: Run the Walt Disney World Marathon in under 3:45:00. (8:35/mi pace)

So here's where I've decided to keep track. This is my venting space. Every time, every pace is going up and I'm going to hold myself accountable for how I'm doing, because I've realized that I can't do this for anyone else but me. It's finally time to take care of myself, so that's what this is for.

And I've decided to include you all on the journey, too . I welcome your thoughts, comments, tips, etc., because what fun is it training for the marathon if you have no one to share it with?

To 26.2 miles!

-David

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 15:30
Pace: 7:43/mi

Today was a rough run, for some reason I was getting this awful cramp in my side and I had to stop ~1 mi and then again for the last 200m or so. It's definitely not a good sign when you can barely run 2 miles and you're trying to run 26.2, though I think I was pushing myself too hard today (lots and lots of rage to get out...)

On an important sidenote, I should say that I've run up to 18 miles in a day and I've run a half marathon before, so I'm a beginning-to-intermediate runner. I'm just following my Nike+ coach and it said run 2 miles today.

Tomorrow: 6 miles!

 

[lolakat]

Good for you for jumping back into your training. I think you will find that you will be much happier being motivated by your own satisfaction rather than working to please someone else.

Keep up the great work.

 

[gotrojansgo]

*sigh*

So Labor Day was rough. I went home with my friend to DC and Baltimore and we ate a ton of fried food. I was at the Maryland state fair and the stuff was EVERYWHERE. Granted, it was good and they might have had to roll me off the fairground.

Long story short, there's no run today. There is, however, a big question of motivation. Don't you hate it when people who you thought weren't interested (especially when they were before) contact you again? I don't know where I'm going to get the motivation for this...

Tomorrow: 6 miles. If I don't stick to this, who knows if I'll be able to run the 26.2, yeah?

 

[gotrojansgo]

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32:25
Pace: 8:06/mi

Labor Day, thy name is pain. *Sigh* Today was supposed to be 6 miles, but I ended up only doing 4, partly because of time and partly because of the fact that I was severely cramping after 2 miles. Like these were bad cramps, so I'm hoping this isn't an indication that I'm going to have this much trouble running the entire 26.2. I'm starting to doubt myself because I'm now doing this for myself and, instead of feeling empowered, I just feel kind of scared...

 

[gotrojansgo]

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 24:08
Pace: 8:03/mi

I'm going to keep this short because I'm slightly drunk. Bulletpoints:

-Labor Day sucks, I'm glad I'm not hitting another speedbump for a while.
-I realized getting every run under 7:55 is too lofty of a goal, so I'm revising to 8:15 for now.
-The guy who I was running this for is slowly re-entering my life again...and it sucks to know how much that affects your training, yeah?

On a sidenote, does anyone have any ideas about eating? I'm trying to figure out a good diet...

Yoga tomorrow, woo!!

 

[gotrojansgo]

Friday, September 10, 2010

--Break Day!--

Practice: Yoga (1hr)

*sigh*

Life is cyclical, I really believe that. And it's not just about events in life, it's attitudes, too. By the time Friday rolls around, I think I'm so tired from the work week and so ready to give up that I do just that--I give up and hit rock bottom, and that's why I posted what I did last night. It's embarrassing and I feel stupid, but I'm going to keep that there as a reminder of what happens.

Then I get to Friday, when I usually go to yoga, and I leave it with a very positive vibe (as one should when they go to a good yoga class). Then I wonder why the hell I get down on myself so much.

Now I've realized that I could really learn something from yoga: intention. Every class, you're supposed to set an intention that you can come back to when the practice gets too hard--something that keeps you going. For me? Well, I'm not 100% sure what my motivation is for this marathon anymore, I only know that I'm tackling barrier after barrier...not reaching milestones. So that's my goal for the weekend: figuring out why I'm really doing this.

 

[gotrojansgo]

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 34:33
Pace: 8:37/mi

Ok, so not my best run, but again, it's after a very, very lazy weekend filled with studying. Since when was it so hard to be a student? I've realized that this training is really all about focus, and getting over barriers to stay focused on one goal: the finish line. And I'm not giving up on that goal.

Unfortunately, I hit two very big barriers in the last couple days. One, I found out that my bosses at Residential Education (I'm an RA at school) won't let me out of midyear training, so I'll have to fly into Orlando Friday night unless I can finagle an excuse. Hopefully I can, but if I can't, not a big deal, right?

Tomorrow: 3 miles!

 

[gotrojansgo]

Wednesday, September 15

Distance: 3 miles
Pace: Slow jog (9:45/mi-ish) with a friend

So I know I've been talking a lot about intentions lately, and today I think running with a friend was exactly the thing I needed. First of all, I finally broke it off with a guy that I've been seeing on and off for a while now because I discovered that he's a GIANT d-bag. And, because I'm over emotional, I was prepared to spend the next couple days in bed, crying and eating chocolate.

But my friend didn't let me do that. He pulled me out of my room (even though he has an ACL) and ran with me around the track. After a very long conversation with him, I think I've boiled it down to this (warning: foul language ahead):

I am ANGRY. I'm angry at this guy. I'm angry at myself for feeling duped. I'm angry at myself for letting this guy determine my self-worth. I'm angry at myself for beating myself up when he wouldn't text me at night. And I'm angry at him again for being a giant d-bag who said anything and everything to lead me on when all he ever wanted to do was hookup. I've discovered that I need to give myself a break something, because being angry at myself isn't something that's necessarily healthy or productive. But I can be angry at him, and I intend to channel that into my training.

I am PETRIFIED. I'm scared that I'm going to let work consume my life and that's why I'm never going to find someone to be with. I was so scared to let this slowly dying thing go because I know that now I'm alone. And it's scary, because there's no telling how long it will be or what I'll do when I've had a bad day and all I come home to is a futon, a TV and several stuffed animals.

Most of all, I'm SICK AND TIRED. I'm so tired of feeling out of place in the gay community and sick of feeling not good enough. I think I finally realized today how negative I am towards myself and how I keep myself constantly feeling ****ty about myself. Why do I even do that? Because I think I enjoy being ****ing miserable, short and sweet.

So this is my solution. This marathon is my solution. To quote a great movie, "Network,": I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. Seriously, I'm not. This ******** where I'm beating myself up is ridiculous and I'm not doing it anymore. I'm doing this so, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing 10 things wrong with myself, I see something right, something that I'm proud of. This is for me, and I'm going to aim to think about that every day.

Thursday, September 16

Distance: 4 Miles
Time: 31:02
Pace: 7:45/mi

Ok, so it wasn't the 7 miles I was supposed to run today according to my Nike+, but I think today was the first day that I really got into a rhythm while I was running. I was channeling that anger and I felt a really strong connection between me and the road. All of a sudden, I was releasing all of my anger into the street and it was taking it and getting rid of it. Needless to say I smoked my goal (which is to have 10 runs under a 7:55/mi pace by October 15), so that felt good.

This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Nothing is going to ruin this now, because I'm doing this for me. I'm taking control of something for once in my life and giving myself a leg to stand on.

 

[gotrojansgo]

Friday, September 17

---YOGA DAY---
Time: 1 hour

Today was very, very zen. I felt so strong during my yoga practice today and I think, for once, I felt like I was improving myself. I think I've really opened up my eyes in the last couple of days and I've started seeing the positive side of life, not the negative side. I was focusing more on what poses I could do rather than what I couldn't. And, to top it off, I was even able to laugh at myself when I couldn't get my foot as high as I wanted it to!

I'm feeling a lot better about myself and how things have been going recently, because I only have control over so much. Now that I'm actually doing the training and I'm seeing the progress I've been making, I feel like I've finally taken control of something and I can actually get it done.

Tomorrow: 6 miles.

 

[gotrojansgo]

Monday, September 20

---YOGA DAY---
Time: 20 minutes

Only had time for 20 minutes today! Had to squeeze it in, but I got it. I used Pocket Yoga on my iPhone (a must for any yogi enthusiast), rolled ou my mat in my room and got it done. Granted, it wasn't as calming as when I go to my studio, and I didn't have a teacher helping me with my poses, but I felt really, really accomplished afterwards because I was able to do it on my own. Booyah!

 

[gotrojansgo]

Tuesday, September 21

Distance: 3 Miles

Today was another fairly easy day, I just ran around the track at a light pace (around 10:00/mi) with my friend. Super simple, had a good conversation, wanted to ease my way into running this week (especially since tomorrow is 7 miles...groan).

I've decided I really like working out with someone else because it makes me feel a lot more accomplished. The fact that I'm able to help out my friend (who is incredibly athletic, albeit injured) is so cool, and he's such a great guy. And he's really cute--I may have a crush on him? Oops.

 

[gotrojansgo]

Wednesday, October 8

Distance: 7 Miles

Ok, DIS WISHers, I'm finally back on track! I've been out thanks to a nasty bout of ulcerative colitis (sorry if that's TMI) but now I'm back running and trying desperately to catch up to my training schedule.

Case in point: today I ran 7 miles using 5x4 pickups with 2 mile warmups and cooldowns on either end. This is the first time I'd done speed work ever and wow, did it kick my ***. I was feeling great after the first two, but it really went downhill after the third interval. By the fifth one, I don't think I was really running any faster . Still, there's a lot of room to improve.

BUT, on a good note:

I officially signed up for the Walt Disney World Marathon today! I'm staying at BCV Friday night-Sunday night, then at WLV Monday night and coming back to school on Tuesday. Even better: I'm booking a massage (at GF hopefully) tomorrow!

 

[gotrojansgo]

Saturday, October 9

Distance: 5K

I feel stupid every time I can't put a time or a pace up because I feel like I failed. Tonight, however, was not really a failure, so much as it was an error on my part. I ran way too late at night when I was not prepared and I had not eaten correctly beforehand. Result? Around 3.5K I started to cramp like no other. I walked to just over 4K and then I was done because I couldn't handle it anymore.

Lucky for me, this is a really easy week for training coming up, so my goal this week is to complete everything, because I feel like if I can do that, that'll really put me back on track.

Tomorrow: 10.2 miles!

 

[gotrojansgo]

Monday, October 11, 2010

Exercise: Yoga
Time: 45 Minutes

So I didn't get to my long run on Sunday again (ugh), but I figure I can start a week with Monday and just stick to it this way. That way, my long runs come at the end of the week and it's more motivating to end a week with a long run than kick one off, right?

Today was tough, the yoga was hard! Also, I feel myself getting out of shape, which is no good at all! I really have to get back on track and I kept feeling my fat when I put my hands on my hips for certain yoga moves...no more of that! I want to be able to run confidently with my shirt off, so I'm going to kick my *** into gear this week.

On another note, I booked my post-marathon massage at the GF on Sunday, so now I have super added incentive to go!!

P.S. I'm coming in to WDW on Saturday around noon and leaving Tuesday afternoon--I'll be at BCV on Saturday and Sunday night and VWL Monday night, so if anyone wants to meet up, I'll be down there alone with nothing to do!

Tomorrow: 4 miles!

 

[gotrojansgo]

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Distance: 2 Miles
Time: 17:04
Pace: 8:32/mi

Yeah, today was supposed to be 4 miles, but I cramped up at the 1.5 mile mark and it was so painful I had to walk to 2 and then finish. I felt like a giant wimp, but I figure that I'm really getting back into this this week, so I just have to put up with the pain...plus I'm really, really sore from yoga on Monday. I'm trying to find a massage stick to help me out with that, because I'd love to work out my muscles a little more and treat them a little nicer!

Tomorrow: 2 Miles (which I will finish for SURE)

 

[gotrojansgo]

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Distance: 2 Miles
Time: 14:54
Pace: 7:24/mi

Today felt much better. I'm still incredibly sore in my hamstrings, which I'm still trying to figure out why, but I've been stretching them like crazy, so hopefully the soreness will go away soon. I've been trying to eat a lot of potassium, too, in hopes that it will help my muscles, but I guess only time will tell.

As for my run today, I went all out and I still fell :50 flat of my personal best at 2 miles! Granted, I think I was focusing on short distance then, but still, this has really lit a fire under me to start pushing myself more. I don't want to overtrain, but I'm determined to pummel this marathon into the ground. I want that 3:30.

Tomorrow: 6 miles

 

[gotrojansgo]

Friday, October 15, 2010

Practice: Yoga
Time: 1 Hour

Whew! I finally got my butt to yoga class today and I couldn't be more excited! It's always a drag to wake up at 6:15 to get all the way to West Hollywood, but when I walk out of the studio it always feels so good. I need to be getting these vibes all the time !

Now I've got a full day ahead of me (ugh), and on 4 hours of sleep, this might not be easy. At least I know where all the Starbucks are on the way!

Tomorrow: 6 miles

 

[gotrojansgo]

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Distance: 6.2 miles

Whew, midterms were a killer! I've really been out of practice, but today I ran again with my friend who tore his ACL, so we kept a pretty good pace (probably around 8:30 or 8:45/mi) the entire time, which I was proud of! It was a good way to kick my *** back into gear.

I really need to stop this stop/start mentality because it's wreaking havoc on my training and on my mindset. If I wake up in the morning and tell myself I'm going to run, then dammit I need to just suck it up and do it! It's tough telling myself that because I'm not entirely sure how much I respect myself, but I can feel the tide changing. I only have 80 days left until this marathon...it's becoming more real as we get closer.

Tomorrow: 4 miles

 

[gotrojansgo]

Friday, October 22, 2010

Practice: Yoga

Time: 1 hour

I can't tell you guys how much I really enjoy doing yoga at this place. My teacher is amazing (and it doesn't hurt that he's cute, too ) and I always leave this place feeling so empty. I don't think I ate that poorly today, either, except for some potato chips that I had with dinner, but you win some, you lose some, right?

I'm back on track now, and I'm ready to finish. I'm still really, really worried about going down to the marathon alone, but I know I can do it. I'm just a little disappointed that no one will be there to see it...

Tomorrow: 9 miles