Omaha Marathon & Stuff
Call me lazy, call me busy, call me an absentee blogger. Call me whatever you want – it’s been awhile. A serious while. Hell, we didn’t even round off our trip to Europe with tales of the last few cities we visited. But life goes on, and so do new careers. While Al has been slaving for the Med Center, I’ve been slaving in the classroom. Our newfound endeavors are time consuming, to say the least. To say the most, I know that I’ve found my niche. Teaching has turned out to be just as rewarding as expected, and double the intensity as anticipated.
But some things never change. When the pot has all but boiled over and the you-know-what’s about to hit the fan, I still just go for a run. And it seems that over the last four months I’ve done a bit more than usual. Though the last month or so has been somewhat sporadic, I’ve set my sights on uber-long distance goals. Next Thursday I’ll head up to Wisconsin with Mom & Jerry to run my first ultramarathon. More of a starter ultra at 50k. Even though this will be farther than I’ve ever run, in my mind it’s the pregame tailgate party for 50- and 100-milers. My goal is to have run a 100-miler before the age of 30, and I’ve got a couple years left. Truth be told, though, I’m looking to cross this off my list within a year.
All that being said, I ran my fifth marathon on September 28th, and it panned out beautifully. Starting off convservatively, I did my jaunt around dowtown and headed south for the hills of Rosenblatt and the zoo. What a joy it is to have a family cheer squad bounce around the course for support! Allison, Mom, Jerry, Rob, Caity, Collin & Dylan all made it down to the race to zip around Paparazzi-style, as if I were a rockstar. Though I am but a rookie teacher and mediocre runner, they sure make me feel like a rockstar – thanks guys!
At the halfway point I felt pretty good and decided that I’d increase my pace by about 15 seconds per mile. Though I fell off pace slightly toward the end of the race, this proved to be a reasonable adjustment. The second half of the course is monotonous and draining, and I really do believe that this is the case aside from the fact that a marathoner’s attitude tends to take a downward spiral between miles 18 and 25.
At any rate, my yearnings to be done running for the day were erased by the sights & sounds of the finish line atmosphere, which is so much improved now that the course finishes at the Lewis & Clark Landing. I finished with a chip time of 3:35:07, my second best marathon time, but what I consider my smartest-run marathon yet. Another marathon down, and many more to come. Stay tuned for a race report on the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k that I’ll be running on October 25th.
