A Half instead of a Full

I am not one to back down easily, especially regarding physical competition. But when my body tells me, it can't do it. Well, I can't do it.

Thus, at the start of April, as my training for a marathon was coming to a head, my body decided that it was not ready. On April 1, I ran 17 miles, and it was awful. Horrible. Painful. My legs felt heavy. I was tired. I felt frustrated. As I push myself to run further, I realized that I was feeling this at mile 12. Now, I had been training diligently since Thanksgiving. For the first time in my running life, I was not hurting. But I took a year off from running because of surgery, and clearly, my body was not ready for such an ambitious task. Thus, the 17-mile run ended many weeks of hard training, and I wrote the Avenue of the Giants Marathon and went down to a half marathon. 

Ultimately, it will be for the best. I will get done faster. I will be more relaxed, and heck, I might even PR. I do feel somewhat defeated because when I signed up for this marathon in 2019, I was in the best shape of my life. I was healthy and strong and could run 20 miles without a problem. Two years later, I aged very quickly and have been dealing with some irritating health issues. Instead of feeling powerful, I see my mortality playing out. I will be 48 in a few months, and like many before me, the aging process can be rough. I am not giving up. Just hitting a reset button. The training has given me renewed confidence and a healthy outlook. I have lost a lot of weight and feel that spring in my step I have not felt in quite some time. My goal remains that I would like to complete seven marathons in my life. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't. I will try, and if my body doesn't let me, so be it. As I write this on April 22, 2022, I have three runs left. I will set aside a new goal after next weekend, but the focus will be to finish the Half, which will be my sixth Half. Not too shabby for a 48-year-old who had a double hernia.