What Happens When You Don't Train for a Marathon: My Double Dog Dare Marathon Report, September 25, 2012

Sometimes, you have to make do with what you have.  But, in doing so, be careful and don’t get injured.

I signed up for the no frills, low key Double Dog Dare Marathon just to see what would happen.

Going in, my training had been lacking.  My mileage base has been fading more on the half marathon distance than the marathon, but I decided to give it a whirl.  As they say, you won’t know until you try.  If things feel bad, just slow down and if necessary, just stop and live to run another day.

I am use to completing half marathons, so the first 13.1 miles went by without much of a hiccup.

Mile 14 – It always feels weird, thinking that the finish was back at 13.1 miles instead.

Mile 15 – I am still running and walking along.  My legs are definitely feeling some wear over the distances covered.

Mile 16 – My legs are starting to feel tighter and tighter.

Mile 17 – The wheels starting to fall off.  One of my IT bands started to bother me.

Mile 18 – My walk breaks became more frequent and longer to give one of my IT bands a longer break.

Mile 19 – I took it easy, thinking that I will pick up things during Mile 20 and onwards.

Mile 20 – I tried to pick up the pace, but by the time I reached Mile 21, my pace just wouldn’t hold.

Miles 21 and 22 – The marathon shuffle kept going.  I kept shuffling along and giving frequent walk breaks, but my legs felt tired, often tight.  One of my IT bands got increasingly unhappy.

Mile 23 – One of my IT bands says, “We’re done.”  I literally can feel my knee area being pulled each time as I tried to run.  The pulls felt bigger and bigger each time when I tried to run.

Mile 24 to the Finish – I’m now on “Please just be able to walk or crawl across the finish line.”

Mile 26.2 - Oh, no...  The course went long.

Finish – I was so glad I was able to walk across the finish and that it was over.

It was ugly, but I did it.

My Double Dog Dare Marathon "bling" is the most cutest bling I had ever received.

Hours later after I got home, I sat down in a chair.  To my shock, when I tried to get up, I was not able to.  It seemed my leg with the IT band issues must have cramped up.


In hindsight:  Although things were ugly, I don't regret going out and trying to complete this marathon.  I really learned a lot from this one.