It’s weird, but when I look at my marathon photos, it’s almost like I’m looking at a stranger . It’s as though someone else did this race for me and I just went along for the ride. I always seem to look healthier in race pictures than I actually feel. Maybe it has something to do with the fact I love what I’m doing , and the camera only captures that.
Well, like most people in the days following a marathon, I’ve been doing a little recovering and a lot of reflecting. From a physical stand point, I’m now totally healed, mentally though, my mind is still in Portland thinking about that 7.5 hour walk and all the extraordinary people I met a long the way.
I’ve tried to do a little self-critiquing on my performance, but other than walking slower than I had hoped ( and loosing my inhalers), I think I did the best I could , with what I had to work with at the time. I know for sure that I trained properly , because I didn’t suffer a single leg cramp throughout the entire race. And even though getting really sick just two weeks before the race was unfortunate, it forced me to take a real taper which helped my legs tremendously. As far as my slow finish time , well, I was still sick, so racewalking was out of the question. The bottom line is, lung function equals speed. The better I can breath on a particular day, the faster I can walk . The only problem is, I can’t forecast the good breathing days in advance. If I could , I’d PR every race!
I think my strongest points during this particular race, was my ability to get mentally back on track after the inhaler mishap ( thank you Anita), maintained a constant and steady pace (albeit a slow one) , and not taking the whole marathon walking thing too seriously . After all, we’re only talking about a walk. OK …. ….a very long walk.
This upcoming week I have 2 medical appointments, one dentist visit , and my xolair injection. Back to reality……Yuk !
PS…. ….Congrats to all who did races this Sunday.
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You looked ridiculously happy every time I saw you on the course and to have experienced the joy of walking, of walking for miles beside a good friend, of walking among thousands of other athletes, of walking to the genuine cheers of strangers, of walking over the finish line only days after being hospitalized, of walking without leg cramps or nausea, of walking a marathon and not being propelled into the crimson red zone and another round of hospital days and nights….there is the real value and joy of marathon walking IMHO.
You have now done more marathons than I. Seems like I have a new reason to do my next marathon – gotta keep up with the Steve!
Damn I just read ur portland report… awesome Bro.
Love the pics and GREAT MEdal Pic and ONE you should be looking at daily!! Way to FIGHT on through all ur challenges, ur a strong dude!!
CONGRATS!!!!! Keep on pressing on!!
I saw your comment somewhere about someone being too hard on themselves. Look who’s talking! You did great. Just a little while before the race and after your hospitalization you did not even know if you would make it to Portland.
Throw the self-critique out of the window, you do not need it, it’s just clutter.
A friend and I was just talking about this phenomenon. Everytime I look at my pictures from past races and events I always feel that someone else did those things. For me there’s a whole different psyche that emerges in these races. You did it though and no one else. Got the medals to prove it.