Mile 23 Dillinger
One week after Steamtown, I was back on the wagon, running an ill-advised 17 mile jaunt through the trails of Harbison Forest with some buddies. The typically lively banter (most of which I cannot and will not repeat) was interrupted by a question from a bloke soon to embark on his first marathon.
“What does it feel like after mile twenty?â€
Before I could muster a pithy response, another runner (a tanned rugby coach) answered with blunt hyperbole, “[after mile twenty] if I had a gun, I’d shoot myself.â€
Ah, restraint.
But you know what? For a hypothetical nanosecond he made perfect sense. I’d never actually contemplate self euthanasia, but the unrelenting misery of miles 21-26 can be overwhelming. You must fight the almost irresistible urge to stop… to end it.
While crude, gunpowder projectiles seem as good a metaphor as any.
Just call me Old Yeller.
– Dean
October 18th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Pain is Good. Extreme Pain is Extremely Good! 🙂
If you don’t understand the lines above, then you’re not a long distance runner…
kestrou
October 18th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
uh oh.
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
oh i love this. especially the day after my second marathon & first attempt at a BQ. i was loaded into an ambulance at 23 where an IV & some glucose put me out of my misery, or rather got me out of my misery. enough to jump right back into the misery and finish. i totally stalk your blog. love it. this post was too timely & perfect not to comment.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:44 am
As someone who is inevitably building up to a marathon at some point in the future this is not good news.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Dean, nice blog site. You’ll get to Boston eventually. It took me until Marathon #7 before doing it. (Have) ran it three times including last year’s noreaster. After the Newton Hills you won’t believe that there is still 5 1/2 miles to go. But you have several hundred thousand people cheering you on……
The aftermath (if you stay in Cambridge) there is an irish pub that has killer Guiness and shepard’s pie……
A little motivation for Rocket City. Fast course, ran it in 2000. Good luck.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Am stoked for Rocket City… Gotta do the NYC marathon “training run” first…
– Dean
October 27th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
On your first marathon, there is still enough denial to get you through without the bloody mess…but by the next one, yeah you realize exactly what you’ve gotten into about mile 20.