Well I did it. The Pre-Marathon Marathon.

On Saturday I made the decision that since I was 3 weeks out from participating in the Paris Marathon in Paris, France on April 6th, I was keen on making sure I could do the following:

1)  Complete the distance
2)  Complete the distance in under 8 hours

I wanted to be sure that I was bringing the proper fuel and get an idea of what my pace needed to be in order to NOT get "swept" from the race course.  Getting "swept" means that you are unable to stay in FRONT of those officials whose job it is to slowly drive the "sweep vehicle" along the course based on an 8 hour finish time.  They pick up those participants who are BEHIND the 8 hour finish time, since those participants will be physically unable to finish the race in the time allotted.  In a large city such as Paris the race organizers only have SO long to block off the roads, and they MUST re-open them on schedule.  Hence, the time limit.

Part of my mental preparations for this marathon have been truly BELIEVING that I can participate in and finish the Paris Marathon.  So this was a big deal for me to do a "trial run".

Also, I remember back in 2007 when I trained for a Half Marathon, the "Half-Marathon Training Book" told me that if I trained up to 10 miles I could run 13.1.  So, I did what the book told me, and I trained up to 10 miles.  Then I began my race, the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon.  What I found out right about mile 10 was that if you trained up to 10 miles, you could run......10 miles.  I ended up bonking shortly after passing the 10-mile marker, and walked the rest of the way.

SO.  For all of these reasons I made the decision to do a "trial run" literally for my Marathon. 

I went to bed at 7:00 pm on Saturday night, and woke up at 3:30 am on Sunday.  I took 1/2 hour to eat breakfast (Medifast Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal, best fuel ever) check e-mail, get dressed, and stretch a little.

At 4:00 am I set up my Strava Iphone running application and pressed "record".

The music I decided to listen to on my first few hours was from IHeartRadio and it was an "All Choral, All the Time" station.  I can't even describe adequately how it felt to run under the black sky twinkling with stars, the moon beginning to work it's way to setting, and the entire neighborhood being asleep as I silently padded my way around the lamp-lit streets.

The first 3.5 hours were fun and games LOL.  The second 3.5 hours were mind blowingly difficult.  Now, prior to yesterday, I had indeed run 20 miles because the Marathon Training books told me that if I could run 20 miles I could run 26.2 on race day.  Because of my prior experience with this type of advice I didn't believe them.  But in this case, it was true.  I COULD run 26.2 miles.  Well, I could FINISH 26.2 miles within 8 hours, let's put it THAT way. 

I ended up running until mile 16, walking from mile 16-18, and running the last 9.3 miles.  You see, I completed not 26.2 miles (marathon distance) but 27.3 miles.  WHY?  Well that is a funny story but basically when I did the 20 miles a few weeks ago I ran to 20.6 miles and then my tracking application on my Iphone (Strava), whose information I was USING the whole time and whose display SAID 20.6 when I stopped the run, actually RECORDED 19.9 miles on my data feed when it processed my run!  Imagine, going for the big 20, GETTING there according to GPS, and then the program TAKING 0.7 miles away for no good reason whatsoever!  I was NOT going to be bitten twice on that one, and I truly wanted at least 26.2 miles to be recorded on my permanent feed so I ran an extra 1.2 miles to make sure it gave me credit for at least the 26.2.  It actually recorded 27.3 miles so I'm proud of that also.

Ultimately, how did I FEEL?

Amazing.  Amazing and amazing.  Today I have to admit is more amazing feeling than yesterday.  Yesterday I got home, took a very short warm bath (NOT hot...you aren't supposed to take a hot bath after a long run because it increases the lactic acid production), changed into my comfy sweats, took two ibuprophen, drank some powerade zero, ate 2 cups of non-fat cottage cheese and took a 2 hour nap after stretching.  Then I spent the afternoon walking around a local Railroad Theme Park we have in Scottsdale with my family.  Slowly walking that is. 

And I really feel good.  I feel like I accomplished exactly what I wanted to accomplish, running a marathon.

Now my Paris Marathon will be a "fun run" that I can go to and enjoy without the pressure of "Will I get injured?  Will I finish?  What if something happens and they don't accept my paperwork and I can't participate?"  If any of that happens, no biggie!  I'm there, I'm enjoying Paris, I have already run a marathon (marathon +) and all is good! 

I have planned for any contingency, and run my first marathon.  Granted, it wasn't an "official" marathon, it was more of a private event.  A solo event.  An individual time trial, if you will.  =)

How does this fit into my continuing goals of maintaining optimal health?  Well here's the fun part.  Because our program isn't about a "goal weight" but about FIRST attaining a HEALTHY weight, and then moving to Optimal Health, and then moving to Ultra Health, THAT is my roadmap.

I have not "arrived".  I will not rest on any perceived "laurels" I have achieved and say "Finished!  Done!  Now get me OFF this thing!"

No.  For me, I have attained optimal health and maintained it for some time.  I am now adjusting my sites (and have been for awhile now) to "attaining and maintaining ULTRA health".  And I am SO excited about that process I LEAP out of bed in the morning EXCITED to continue the process of BECOMING. 

Becoming that person I always knew I could be.  That person I yearned to be.  That person that I KNEW was inside me waiting to get out.

I believe that much of my angst (sadness, madness, you name it) I felt while obese was simply my insides screaming that my outsides WEREN'T ME.  And that conflict worked itself out in ways that made me MISERABLE.  I KNEW that I wanted to be authentic inside and out.  I KNEW that I was wearing a fat suit (of my own making) and that the "me" I was presenting visibly to the world was NOT in accordance with my deeply held values of living our best life, of living up to our God-given potential, heck, of even TAKING CARE of and being a good STEWARD of this gift-of-a-body that we have been given to take care of.  I was doing NONE of that at 272 pounds Super Class IV Obese and walking with a cane.

Now, at 122, no cane, running marathon(s), enjoying life, modeling health for myself, my family and my community, I can truly say that EVERY day is simply "The Best Day of My Life!"  (Lyrics Below).  And yes, this song IS my ringtone.  

I had a dream so big and loud
I jumped so high I touched the clouds
Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh
Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh
I stretched my hands out to the sky
We danced with monsters through the night
Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh
Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

I'm never gonna look back
Woah never gonna give it up
No, please don't wake me now

Oo-o-o-o-o-o
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe
Oo-o-o-o-o-o
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe

who oo-ooo-oo cares about everything now
ooo-oo-ooo-oo-ooo

I howled at the moon with friends
And then the sun came crashing in
Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh
Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh
But all the possibilities
No limits just epiphanies
Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh
Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

I'm never gonna look back
Woah, never gonna give it up
No, just don't wake me now

Oo-o-o-o-o-o
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe
Oo-o-o-o-o-o
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe

(instrumental)

I hear it calling outside my window
I feel it in my soul (soul)
The stars were burning so bright
The sun was out 'til midnight
I say we lose control (control)

(instrumental)

This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe
Oo-o-o-o-o-o
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe
This is gonna be, this is gonna be, this is gonna be
The best day of my life
Everything is looking up, everybody up now
Oo-o-o-o-o-o
This is gonna be the best day of my l-ii-fe
My li-i-i-i-i-ii-fe