Accidental Long Run

Tomorrow is the first group long run for the 18 week training program leading up to the Fargo Marathon in May. It is put on by Fargo Marathon, Dick Beardsley Running Company, Go Far Events and the Red River Runners. I always look forward to the Saturdays building up to the Fargo Marathon. Seeing some old friends and making some new ones. All of us there for the same reason but all having different goals. By the time we are done with our training, all of the snow will be gone, we will all be running in shorts again, some goals will have changed, some already realized, and some let go. A lot can happen in 18 weeks. I've seen a lot of lives changed during that time. Including mine.


My first year of marathon training with the Red River Runners group, I hooked up with one of the trainers who was very energetic, funny, fit and always encouraging. Every Saturday morning when the group got together I looked for her and ran with her nearly every week. Sometimes we ran in a large group where I took to the back and listened to the banter and sometimes it was just her and I. When the last long run over 20 miles came, it was just the 2 of us after the 10 mile mark when she began to struggle and slow down. She needed to walk. I walked with her. We ran when she could and walked when she had to. She told me many times to go on ahead but the gentleman side of me couldn't leave a lady behind. She had become my friend and I couldn't leave my friend struggling. She was kind of embarrassed by her performance in not being able to hold up her end of the deal. She joked, the student becomes the teacher. Little does she know that what I consider one of the most valuable lessons I've learned about running was taught to me that day. Do your long runs slow. We finished our 22 mile run in 3 hours and 53 minutes. Way behind everyone else. No big deal I thought though way off the pace I had intended. I knew I had done the right thing by sticking with her and even if it may have hurt my marathon preparation, I still felt confident. So marathon day comes with all of it questions ready to be answered in the next few hours. Would I "hit the wall"? What will my time be? Will I even finish? Well, I did finish. And thanks to my friend, Marilyn, I finished in 3 hours and 53 minutes.

I enjoy being a back of the pack runner and I like hearing stories from some of the new runners who really haven't yet found their groove and offering support to them when they start to feel overwhelmed by all of the training miles they need to complete. It takes some guts to step out of your comfort zone and commit to running a marathon and for those of us who have been there and remember what it is like, we need to give the newbies every chance we can for them to succeed. I feed off of their enthusiasm. It helps to keep me going. So if you are in the training class tomorrow and are looking for some help, come find me and we will go through this together. You'll really be helping me. Even if it is accidental.