Last Sunday, November 25th, I completed my first marathon. I’ve been writing and talking about it a lot… about my training and how I was nervous about the run. My goal for the marathon was to finish I didn’t want to do it for time, although it did cross my mind a few time while on the course. And I did finish… I didn’t doubt myself but I am still almost in disbelief that it happened.
The marathon I decided to do was the Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa Beach. I’m so glad I did this one because the run and course was amazing. I loved the atmosphere and all the volunteers who were there. It was such a great run and I’m really really looking forward to doing it again next year.
But on to how the run went. My plan was to keep a steady pace for the first half and I succeed in that. I finished the half in about 2 hours and 30 minutes and I felt strong. I went faster the next to miles and I was still feeling great. At about mile 18 is when my legs began to feel a bit tired so I slowed down a bit. I really started walking/running at mile 19 almost 20. Mile 20 was a hard one because although I was finally there at 20 I knew I had a 10K left.
Still I pushed through because this is what I trained for and this is what I wanted. I’m going to be honest though… I wasn’t fully trained. If I was I know I would have performed better but my ultimate goal was to finish and that’s what I did. I experienced a marathon… I was exhausted and despite what I consider to be experience, it’s difficult and not an easy task to accomplish.
I finished the marathon in 6 hours and 5 minutes. That time is definitely not what my ultimate goal is but I am happy with it because it gives me so much room for improvement. I grew so much since I crossed that finish line of my first half marathon… and that person then would have never even thought that she would attempt and finish a marathon.
After I finished, when I received the congratulations from my sister and father, I cried. It all meant so much to me because I remembered my journey. The journey means everything to me and it keeps leading me to places I never expected. This marathon is one of many and I’m so glad I did it when I did. It helped me build goals for my 2019 running year. I can’t wait to write about this same marathon next year to see the changes.
~Day
a Day with Day 
This is my dream! I’ll continue with my Half Marathons in 2019 and then try for a Marathon in May 2020 🙂 Well done on your performance, you must be so proud of yourself. I’m glad you didn’t focus too much on time. I think the biggest goal for a first anything is to complete the distance. Now you have set your baseline and you can now work on improving that.
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Thank you! That’s a great goal to have! Completing those half marathons really help you to feel ready too! I agree with you completely, just completing it is an accomplishment :)!
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