How long does it take the average person to finish a marathon?
Answer: Average people don’t finish marathons – Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man
March 2018 update: 3 more slow finishes. Easier my first time thru 50, achieving Maniac Titanium – every experience was new.
Work, twice/day TRAINING, weekend TRAVEL, repeat. Four more 50 mile/weeks – lotta distance every work week. Body & spirit tired, struggling with BALANCE. Journey, not a Sprint. 50 States x2 tally now 26; THREE months ‘til Bighorn.
Milestones:
- February 24th – FIFTH marathon w/ Sis (Indy, StL, Dublin, Hawaii & Phoenix)
- March 4th – UK Run Challenge FLIP. Once 63.7 miles, now 8.7 miles ahead – first time all YEAR.
- March 6th – Knysna Forest Marathon, South AFRICA (race date: July 7th – registered for my FIFTH continent)
April MANTRA: SHED the WEIGHT
March 30th (Leesport PA) thru May 6th (Holyoke MA), my first 6 week marathon stretch since 2015. BIG Highlight: São Paulo BRAZIL. LARGEST city in SOUTH AMERICA – super excited to tag a new CONTINENT, first week of April.
New places, new faces. Haven’t repeated a marathon yet – 111 unique runs.
Race ReCap: 3 marathons, 3 states, 3 different time zones: George Washington’s Birthday Marathon (Greenbelt Maryland), Phoenix Marathon (Arizona) & Acadiana’s Zydeco Marathon (Lafayette Louisiana).
Marathoning Streak: 52 months
Mileage ReCap: ended March at 543.6 miles (HALFWAY thru GOAL)
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- ended March at 543.6 miles
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- Happy Birthday Mom!
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- HALFWAY thru GOAL
Lands End to John O’Groats
1083 miles, the length of Britain
GOAL: 15 June 2018
Ended Month 3 in Sheffield, county South Yorkshire (name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through the city).
After the Norman conquest of England, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city. By 1296, a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, and Sheffield subsequently grew into a small market town.
In the 14th century, Sheffield was already noted for the production of knives, as mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and by the early 1600s it had become the main centre of cutlery manufacture in England outside London, overseen by the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. From 1570 to 1584, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor.
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- Shakespeare’s Birthplace
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- Mile 544: Sheffield
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- 50 miles/week, every week ‘til Bighorn
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- postcard journey (Month 3)
People that SUCCEED, quit quitting.
February 2018 update: 3 weeks for a new habit to become practice. Took me SEVEN – kinda hardheaded I guess. Returned from Florida super dehydrated, required a second IV days after arriving home. AND then…something snapped. No more struggle. Ran 50 miles two consecutive weeks, each training week ending with an out-of-state marathon. Eating better too, down 6.2 pounds. Nutritionally I’m good, but quantity – folks, I’m an eater. Drop a salad, I’ll use an entire head of lettuce. CRAZY amount of food.
Milestones:
- February 6th – São Paulo BRAZIL registration (race date: April 8th – South America, my FOURTH continent)
- February 11th – 50 State count at 24, almost HALFWAY there 🙂
- February Week 2 – second consecutive 50/mile week, run goal: every week ‘til BIGHORN
March MANTRA: FLAWS & all, GAME ON.
4-week stretch of marathoning, longest streak in 2 years. One better? April to mid-May: 6 weeks, 6 marathons, 6 different states. In it to win it. Will finish 30+ marathons in 2018, 5 of those ultra distances.
New places, new faces. Haven’t repeated a marathon yet – that’s 100+ unique runs.
Race ReCap: 2 marathons, long 5-hour finishes & RAIN: Celebration (Florida), Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham.
Marathoning Streak: 51 months
Mileage ReCap: ended February at 340 miles (21 miles short of GOAL)
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- ended February at 340 miles
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- NEXT UP: Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio & Illinois
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- Sage advice
Lands End to John O’Groats
1083 miles, the length of Britain
GOAL: 15 June 2018
Ended Month 2 in Vale of White Horse, a local district in county Oxfordshire, south of the River Thames.
Historically the area has always had some importance, since it contains valuable agricultural land in the centre of the county. Largely ignored by the Romans, it was not until the formation of a settlement at Oxford (Anglo-Saxon “ford for oxen”) in the 8th century that the area grew in importance. Alfred the Great was born across the Thames in Wantage, Vale of White Horse. The University of Oxford was founded in 1096, though its collegiate structure did not develop until later on. The area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century, generating much wealth, particularly in the western portions of the county in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds.
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- Mile 340: Oxfordshire
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- 50 miles/week, every week ‘til Bighorn
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- postcard journey (Month 2)
Be stubborn about your goals, and flexible about your methods
January 2018 update: Tough to start a new Challenge 10 days BEFORE the holidays – but that’s when this year’s Bighorn training program began, 6 months before RUN day: June 16, 2018.
Packed on 21 pounds between June & December 2017. Ideal to be REVEL Rockies weight again this June. Month’s food distractions: Christmas, New Year’s & Hawaii. Not really much of a dieter. Dropped .2 pounds first Month – yep, ZERO.2 🙁
Milestones:
- January 1st – entry confirmed in Antarctica’s White Continent 50K (January 2019)
- January 5th – Bighorn 2018 Registration (signed-up while in Hawaii, 100M distance sold-out)
- January Week 2 – new Personal Best: 74.7 miles (most miles recorded in a single week EVER)
February MANTRA: Stay CALM – it’s a journey, not a Sprint
Hawaii/beginning of January (Ash), Disney World/end of month (Michaela/David). End-of-year reporting/Annual Budget due at work. On-call jury duty/U.S. District Court: February 5 thru March 2nd. THREE pre-registered out-of-state marathons: 50 States x2 Goal.
Breathe, Life happens. Remember: it’s a 6-month Challenge.
Race ReCap: Hilo to Volcano 50K (sea level to 4000ft), Hawaii 🌺
Marathoning Streak: 50 months
Mileage ReCap: ended January at 157 miles (24 miles short of GOAL)
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- ended January at 157 miles
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- Pup & his shadow
Lands End to John O’Groats
1083 miles, the length of Britain
GOAL: 15 June 2018
Ended Month 1 in Farringdon, a village in county Devon.
The manor of Farringdon was long held by the “de Farringdon” family, whose pedigree from the early 13th century to the late 16th century is given in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon. Lancelot Farringdon (d.1598) “a proper and discret gentleman in outward show” was the last in the male line and committed suicide, was “found hanged in his bedchamber by his garter to the bedstead”. His estates passed to his two sisters, Abigail Farringdon, the elder, married to John Drake of Peter Tavy in Devon, and Mary Farringdon, the younger sister whose share of the inheritance included Farringdon, married to William Cooper.
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- Mile 157: Farringdon
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- new PERSONAL BEST
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- my postcard journey
