Proof that I'm still competitive...

...when we ran our 1/2 marathon we both said, "We couldn't care less about our time, we just want to finish." And we did, with a 2:10:30 time---not fabulous but not the worst, either.

This time we said, "We couldn't care less about our time, we just don't want to die." We'd mentioned the 4:30:00 cut off as a respectable time, but we decided we didn't really care. And I firmly believed that statement until just now.

I was reading through some running blogs and stumbled upon this fact, which hit me like a ton of bricks.

Oprah Winfrey ran her first and only marathon back in 1997 in 4:29:20. Dude, I really want to beat Oprah. My inner competitive athlete just emerged while sitting at this computer and I thought, "If freaking Oprah can run sub 4:30 then so can we."

And just like that I've decided that I care about our time. So now it's out here on the blogosphere, which means it's really going to suck if we post a 5:00:00 marathon or something....but whatever. Right now I want to beat Oprah and come in under 4:20:00. That would be exactly 10 minute miles, which is our average, but it won't allow for any walking/puking/dying/crying time.

But when I'm near death and my legs are burning, I will just picture rich Oprah [who I happen to love, by the way] sitting on her talk show couch and bragging that she ran a 4:29 marathon. Because if I'll never meet the legend in real life, at least I can beat her in a marathon, right?

Does that make me psycho or just competitive? It's not like I care about beating any 'real' people, or friends, or other bloggers [I'm sure they'd all whip my 4:20:00 goal anyway]. Just Oprah.

And I still don't want to die, either. I hope that's not too much to ask.

8 comments:

  1. Not wanting to die, might, just might be too much to ask!

    Lol, you're not psycho! You're the right mix of competitive.

    I'd fricken want to be Oprah too.

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  2. Wait. Oprah ran a marathon??!!

    If she can do it, you definitely can do it. Nothing wrong with a healthy competitive streak!

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  3. LOL that cracked me up! Kick Oprah's ass! Nothing wrong with a little competition. : )

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  4. Honestly, I cannot believe that Oprah ran a sub-4:30. I'd kill for a time like that.

    Cheers on the half! My best half time is 2:20 (I'm slow) so I think your time is great!!

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  5. HAHA.

    We were the same way for our first marathon. We were like, "Shit, if Oprah can do that, WE CAN!"

    And then we ran a 4:48... sigh.

    You can do it! :)

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  6. My opinion is that, since Oprah is next to godliness, she actually slowed down the timer and cut out part of the terrain. Like her own little shortcut.

    I would personally focus on the not-dying goal, but then again, I am NOT a runner!

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  7. Tasha, I love the explanation.
    And Krista, if you ran a 4:48 then I'm bound to trail in at 5:00. But weren't you on the San Fran hills? That doesn't count.

    Stupid Oprah!

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  8. From what I've read - they say it's best not to have a time goal for your first marathon, just to finish. That was my only goal - that I said outloud. A friend of mine ran the marathon the year before in just over 5 hours, and my secret goal was to beat her time. Yep, there, I said it. Even though it was a secret goal, it felt so damn good to acheive it. (but I promised myself I would not be dissappointed if I didn't beat her time, as long as I finished).
    The other thing I did that worked out really well for me was, after my 18 mile runs I saw how fast I 'ran' (shuffled) thru, I didn't look at the watch while running and just focused on finishing at a 'natural' pace. After the run I saw how fast I 'ran' and then kind of used that as my basis for trying to pace myself in the actual marathon. The other thing I did - that was my smartest move, was I ran with one of those 'pace team' type people (I dont know if your marathon has them, but if they do, use it!) I didn't sign up for it but I figured out which one was closest to my 18 mile run per mile time (I'd pick a slower pace group rather then faster pace group) and I promised myself to stay with the group until mile 22, then I could go faster if I wanted to. I can't tell you how painfully slow it felt like we were running and all I wanted to do was go go go! (at least for the first 20 miles or so) but, it all worked out perfectly at the end because I was able to enjoy the run and not focus on the times...I just ran with the group. Took the thought/pressure out, and helps because the adrenaline is/was like nothing else (at least for me). Plus, I ran negative split, and passed a whole bunch of people in the last few miles (which felt awesome) wow. I am sorry I wrote so much but I could talk running ALL DAY. Keep us posted on your training! I love it! Good Luck!! (oh and I love all your new gear! Keep treating yourself, it makes all the running more fun!)

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