Marathons- the good, the bad, the weird.

Let's face it people who run marathons are "different".  It doesn't matter if you run 1 or 1000, you are now a member of this "different" group.  (And I can not even speak about the people who run Ultra Marathons.  mostly, because we haven't done one... yet.) 

Why are marathoners "different"?  To say "because" would be an understatement. 

2012 Goofy Challenge

Runners who run marathons commit to a possible 6 hours of running.  Yes, someone will finish in 2 hours and some change, but most of us out there are not that level of "different".  So take a minute and think of things you do for 6 hours (non exercise related).  Really think about it: Making dinner, less than an hour; driving to work, 30 minutes; taking a shower, 45 minutes; playing a game of Dominoes, 2 hours; gardening, 3 hours; watching television, 1 hour.  The list goes on, but pretty much the only commitments we make over 6 hours are sleeping, working, and driving to see family.  And those things take planning, even sleep!    
But marathoners they commit 6 hours to running- it may be one loop, or two loops, or four loops, or ten loops, but they keep going. Why?  "Because"!  Because we trained, because we wanted to see if we could, because someone said it was the next step after a half marathon, because there is beer at the end, because there was nothing else to do on a Sunday morning, because we were bored, because there is a medal, because we want to let ourselves know we can achieve great things.  These are only a few reasons why we run marathons.  These are the good things about marathons, those 6 hours of commitment give us time to think, to process our lives, to forget about the world, to disconnect from stimuli.  Time to remember what we can achieve whether we finish in 3 hours or 6 hours. Marathons are opportunities for runners to look back and know it was worth it.  The finish line at a marathon is a welcoming site; when you see it you know.  You know you can go further, harder, and with more passion than others.  You know life is simple, it is just putting one foot in front of the other.  You know a smile or a high five from a strange has the power to change the world.  You know, you just know. 

Now, there are bad things that occur in marathons.  I like to call these learning moments, some happen during the event, some long after it ends.  What makes marathoners "different" is they know there are bad things out there and they still go.  They know there is a potential along the 26.2 miles for something to go wrong.  A muscle cramp, a twisted ankle, a stomach cramp, dehydration, back pain, pulled hamstring; the list goes on.  There is also a potential for the mental pain to start.  This can sometimes be worse than the physical pain.  The mental pain happens when we hit the wall, when our body is tired.  The mental pain says to stop moving forward, to give up.  It yells in your head about being slow, being less than your best, being last.  It screams for you to break down.  Pushing past this mental pain can be difficult.  The good fairy has to continue to whack the bad fairy on the head with her wand of positivity. The only option is to beat the crap out of the bad fairy, in order to get back on track to only feeling pain and not thinking it.  But marathoners push through because they are "different", because they believe in their end result, they believe in their commitment.      

Yep, that's 3AM!!!

Lastly, in a marathon there is the weird.  You think you will never see it and then there it is in the distance- a woman squatting behind a tree to pee, or a man just peeing on the side of the road, or a kid puking his guts out, or a guy shooting snot out of his nose, or a lady picking her undies out form areas they should never have traveled.  I am not going to talk about the instances where people's stomach contents pour out of them.  I won't talk about this since I have only heard stories, never had the unfortunate incident of this happening to me nor seeing it happen to another- THANK GOODNESS!!!!   It seems normal socially acceptable behaviors, like going to the bathroom in a designated spots goes out the window in marathons, go out the window for us and it is okay because we are "different" (and we know that marathons are won and lost at the KYBOs). Yep a "different" kind of people.  As nice as runners can be there are some weird things we do in marathon mode.  Unlike the good or bad things about a marathon there are limited ways to cope with the weird things.  But they do help to take your mind off of things going on for you.  I spend a good bit of time figuring out where people are going or coming from when they leave and return to the road.  
In the event you think you are ready for a marathon- GO FOR IT!  Just remember the weird "different" you can never unsee!!!!  

3rd Marathon