Coming Full Circle: My Return to the Marathon After 17 Years

I should not be this scared.

I wasn’t when I ran my first marathon. But then again, I was young and brash and really

didn’t know what I was in for. That was 1983, I was 21. I traveled alone to Chicago from

Blacksburg, VA to run the (ahem!) 7th annual Chicago marathon. I did not have my

coach or any teammates, family members or friends along, just me.

So maybe I was scared. But it was less about the marathon and more about being on

my own. Needing to navigate travel, packet pickup and the race itself. The further I got

from the comfy confines of Virginia Tech the scarier it was. But I was confident. I went to

the race with one purpose: to qualify for the US Olympic Trials Marathon. Never mind

that it was my first marathon, I truly believed I would make the cutoff.

My coach believed it too or we never would have ventured into this crazy realm. But I

had had a lot of success at longer races, winning my first 3 half marathons and a 15-

miler. The distance didn’t faze me. Since most of my closest teammates had graduated

or used up their eligibility I red-shirted what turned out to be, without question, my best

year of running. Red-shirting is usually confined to true freshmen (although that was not

allowed when I was a freshman) or injured athletes.

And now here I am, getting ready for another marathon. But this time, well, now I know

what I’m getting into. It’s been 17 years since my last marathon but I haven’t forgotten.

I’ve lost track of the number of marathons I have run but I haven’t lost track of what can

turn out to be an ordeal of pain and suffering.

Not much of a sales pitch I’ll admit.

So why the wait? The 17 years? What happened?

Well, injuries happened. My last marathon may well have been my best. Well, far from

my fastest, but the one in which I felt most prepared. I had tailored my training from

many lessons learned, worked on my fueling and hydration. I had studied the course and I went in rested and ready. I was going to do an even better job the next year on a flatter course. But then the wheels fell off.

My left knee went ‘out’ during a run. Ultimately I needed arthroscopic surgery. The

cartilage was gone and doc said I’d never be able to run more than 2 or 3 miles at a

time. He was right.

For five years anyway.

I was ready to get the surgery again but a friend suggested I consider stem cell therapy.

Hmmm. Interesting concept but yet it did seem viable. They would take stem cells out of

my hip and basically inject them into my knee. No chance of rejection. The only variable

(aside from cost) was whether it would work or not.

We rolled the dice. It worked!

I was back running. And running more. But over the next 10 years I had a lot of starts

and stops, more injuries, more rehab. My knees were stronger but the supporting cast

(namely my quads) were not. Eventually my weight ballooned. Then running became

even more painful. And so was looking in a mirror – what happened to the runner who

used to live in my body? Why was his drawer full of extra-large tee shirts?

It got to the point where I had to stop. I decided I needed to take drastic measures to get

my weight under control. I was too heavy to run enough to lose any weight.

I went on a metabolism reset diet last January. In three months I lost almost 50 pounds.

I was told I could start running again. But I was scared to start back. What if my back

and knees still hurt? Or hurt worse? Then what?

Two miles seemed manageable, but I was skeptical. And yet I got through it with no

pain! My back was fine, my knees felt great. I was out there again the next day and the

next. Then 3 miles and still no pain. Unbelievable! Eight days later I did the Apple

Blossom 10K course then signed up for the race. And it went pretty well. And the

excitement, the adrenaline, the spectators – I remembered what I had missed the most

about running and racing!

I started thinking about doing longer runs. I got in a good 10 mile run for the first time in

I’m not sure how many years. Then 11, 12… 15 miles. It seemed too good to be true,

like I was playing with house money.

Next thing you know I was on the starting line for a half marathon in the fall. That was

unfathomable just 6 months earlier. My age-graded performance put me in the 81 st

percentile – national class. Could it be true? Was I “back?” That’s when the idea of

running another marathon seemed possible.

Right up until I strained my hamstring in a farm incident. But I had already penciled in a

marathon and invested in a training plan. Oh my. Here we go again with another

setback. But six weeks of rehab, treatments, massage and exercises put me back on

track, albeit for a different marathon, 6 weeks later.

Turns out it was the one I was going to run in 2009 – the Fargo Marathon. Flat and fast!

And now I have carbon-plated shoes! But what about the “lost” years? Do I have

enough miles under my belt? What about fueling and hydration? Do I have a suitable

plan? What if I go out too fast? Or get carried away mid-race and push the pace? Can I stay with a pacer? I’ve never done that before. Will there be people to run with and will I? What if my knees give out? What if….?

It's scary to think about. But a marathon always is. You will put your body to the test.

You will stress it beyond what you can do in training. You will put your mind to the test.

You know it will hurt whether you quit or push through but usually pushing through hurts less. I know too much, some 40 years after my first marathon. Will my body and mind betray me? Or will I summon up that brash 21-year-old who did indeed qualify for the Olympic Trials in his first marathon (running 2:18:49) and finished 20 th at Chicago?

We will find out soon enough!