“Getting Strong Now”

Runners are supposed to have a mantra, a phrase or few words to repeat to themselves when they need to dig deeper, whether they’re pushing up a tough hill, trying to up their pace, or just trying to keep going. I’ve read about these mantras in books and articles, and some of these pieces have offered suggestions, but I never found one that I liked.

Then one day while training for the marathon and climbing a steep hill, I thought of the classic Rocky scene where he climbs the staircase in his sweats and raises his arms in victory. That thought led me to “Getting Strong Now”. I think it’s the theme song from Rocky… I honestly don’t remember any other lyrics… but I remember that phrase and the tune that goes with it. Ever since, when I need to dig deep that little phrase plays over in my mind. Something about it makes me want to go harder, even when my body wants to quit. I guess I have a running mantra.

Oh yeah... I ran a marathon.

I started a running blog, but I didn’t even document my first (and so far, only) marathon. How much sense does that make?

Looks like my last post was after the eight mile trail run… over a year ago. I’ll try to recount the last 15 months.

After two half marathons, I decided 2011 would be the year to run my first full marathon. I ran the Columbus half marathon in 2010 and loved it. The course is flat/fast, it has lots of energy from about 15k runners and 100 bands/djs along the route, and I just had a great experience. It’s also run in mid-October, which means cooler weather. With that in mind I chose Columbus for my first full marathon.

I can’t find my training schedule, but I remember it was 18 weeks long. As with most of my race training schedules, I took one I found online and adapted it to my own style (such as training four days a week, planning the long runs for Saturdays). I must have begun training in mid-June. Looking back the first few weeks of training were uneventful. First long run was 8 miles, the next week 10 miles, then I began spacing long runs out, two weeks later running a 12 miler, followed by a 14, and then the training started to get serious…