My Personal Pittsburgh Marathon 2009 Training Blog by cs15217

The Goal: Run 20 miles @ 8:41/mile.

The Result: Ran 20.0 miles in 3:05:21 at 9:16 mins/ mile.

The Splits: 8:52, 8:41, 8:40, 9:08, 8:26, 8:47, 9:01, 8:44, 8:39, 9:10, 8:58, 8:52, 9:09, 9:30, 9:28, 10:02, 9:54, 9:17, 10:59, 11:07.

The Route: http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/pa/pittsburgh/982123947330595606

I ran with the RunPGH training group, we met at Gilda's Club in the Strip at 9:00 a.m.  Much of this route was based on the Marathon course, though it doesn't reflect the most recent changes.  A few notes.  First, I definitely ran the first 13 miles faster by running with the group.  I ran with a couple people who ran the Philly Marathon, and we commiserated over the freezing temperatures and icy course in Philly.  As always, miles fly by when you're in conversation.  Also, I'm getting better at crossing the Birmingham and climbing Forbes into Oakland and Shadyside.  This was easily my best performance at conquering what is going to be the toughest part of the Marathon course.  However, it's a little disconcerting the way my pace just slows to a crawl after climbing that hill (after 13).  Still, this is the fastest 20-miler I've ever ran, and I'm only 7 or 8 seconds/mile away from my ideal marathon pace of breaking 4 hours. 

When I got to Fifth and Penn near the old Nabisco Plant, the group turned right on Penn and continued the Marathon course into Homewood and Highland Park.  They were running too fast for me at that point, and I really didn't want to deal with all the twists and turns of that part of the course.  So I hung a left on Penn instead, and took Penn the whole way through East Liberty, Garfield, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and the Strip down to the 31st Street Bridge.  The advantage was that I got to go down a huge downhill in Miles 17 and 18.  The drawback was that I still haven't seen that part of the Marathon course.  The other drawback was that I didn't realize that "East Ohio Street" between the 31st and 16th Street Bridges is actually Route 28.  Woops. 

Still, I feel happy to have completed my 5th run of 20 or more miles.  I feel more marathon-ready than ever, and I don't feel dead after this 20-miler.  Though I've come to terms with the fact that my pace for long distance is just slow, and it will always be slow.  I don't think a sub-four hour marathon is possible for me.  I'm not sure I care either.  I'm ready to say that I finished 2 marathons in 5 months and had an amazing experience doing it. 

I had a ton of reasons for signing up to run the Pittsburgh Marathon even though I just ran Philly, here are some of them: (a) My dad ran the first PGH Marathon and ran like 10 or 15 of them; (b) I lived away from PGH for 5 years and missed it a lot - I've been back 4 years but still sometimes feel like a tourist here, I can't wait to experience all the different neighborhoods on Race Day, with live music, people cheering, etc., all in the City I love; (c) After I finished the Philly Marathon and got over the initial euphoria for a few weeks, I had kind of an empty feeling - I missed marathon training, and everything else just seemed fake or like BS.  I wanted the marathon feeling back.  I didn't want the feeling to end; (d) I was an OK runner for years, running 10Ks and a half marathon, but I needed to take the next step to see whether I could.  Once I did, it just felt like me.

I'll add to this list as I think of more.  I ran the first marathon for similar reasons, though also for the big overarching reason, the same reason I went to Costa Rica.  I just feel like this moment is my life, right now.  This is not a dress rehearsal.  This is it, and this is the only chance I get.  I don't want to get locked into doing the same things.  I want to step outside my comfort zone, I want new things, I need those challenges.  I know that everything else suffers when I marathon train - my work, my relationships, even my sleep.  I know I'm not the best person I can be while I'm marathon training.  But it just feels like something real.  In the end, it feels like a moment that I'll have forever.  It feels like something I figured out on my own and conquered on my own.  It feels like a line in the sand, that I can look at my life as pre-marathon and post-marathon.