4th Annual Ryan Anderson Invitational Marathon

Before leaving the house BRRR?!?!

A little back story here. After I lost all my weight my sister challenged me to run a marathon and I told her in these exact words...YOU'RE CRAZY!! Somehow I came around to it and started running in September of 2009. On December 6th, 2009 I ran a marathon on the greenbelt here in town at the end of a 3 month training plan.

When I told people I ran a marathon they would always ask,"Which one?" It was a valid question but then I would say it wasn't a 'real' marathon.  It was just me running 26.2 miles with my wife Michelle following on the bike just to see if I could do it. When I put it that way it made it feel like less of an accomplishment and in my mind 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles whether or not you paid 80 bucks and got a crappy t-shirt. So after that I told people I ran the Ryan Anderson Invitational Marathon and there was only 1 invitation!

Finish

Since the first one I have tried to run a marathon to commemorate the achievement and to celebrate my weight loss. So year 2, I joined my friend Andrea on her first marathon finish which was a similar event on the greenbelt with a couple of our buddies. Year 3, I joined Marcie B. for her first marathon, also on the greenbelt with friends. This year I didn't know anyone looking for a marathon so I just ran my pace with my friend Derek while Michelle and Christie paced us and provided aid on bikes.

How Derek wished he felt after

We hit the halfway point at 1:42 something and by mile 14 I was waiting for Derek to cave so I could cave with him. Afterwards he told me he was feeling the exact same way at mile 16. Fortunately for both of us we kept pushing. I have been reading Born to Run and read the part the other night where Scott Jurek was asked how he went from being known as The Jerker (and slow) to ultra god. He said at some point in every race fatigue and pain will show up. You either choose to embrace it or choose to cave.  Lisa Smith-Batchen affectionately refers to the fatigue and pain as The Beast.

"Lisa Smith-Batchen, the amazingly sunny and pixie-tailed ultrarunner from Idaho who trained through blizzards to win a six-day race in the Sahara, talks about exhaustion as if it's a playful pet. 'I love the Beast,' she says. 'I actually look forward to the Beast showing up, because every time he does, I handle him better. I get him more under control.' Once the Beast arrives, Lisa knows what she has to deal with and can get down to work. And isn't that the reason she's running through the desert in the first place-to put her training to work? To have a friendly little tussle with the Beast and show it who's boss? You can't hate the Beast and expect to beat it; the only way to truly conquer something, as every great philosopher and geneticist will tell you , is to love it.” ― Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

How Derek actually felt after

I kept telling myself after mile 14 that I would not cave to The Beast.

I had 24 miles in the 7s and 2 in the 8s. Our initial goal was 3:30 so I guess we went out too fast? I finished strong and just about even split I think.

It was 30 degrees when we started and dark. Before we left our house on the south side of town there was 3 inches of snow so I didn't have high hopes when we left at 6:30. Once we got downtown there wasn't even a flake on the greenbelt although it was still freezing cold.

Avg HR 148 Max 176 Good times!



Click video below....