Marathon training: Sometimes it’s OK to be a turtle

Color me green, and call me a turtle, if you must. It wasn’t pretty, but my 20-mile marathon prep run is done.

Sometimes I’m slow … but I still go ... even when I fail to sprout wings and mostly crawl.

Kermit was right: “It isn’t easy being green.”

OK, before the “Kermit is a frog, not a turtle” comments begin piling up, let me clarify that. I get it. But he’s definitely green ... like a turtle.

I finished my 20-mile marathon training run feeling a little green too – in all sorts of ways.

• The first hour was absolute hell. I didn’t eat any green apples beforehand, but I did experience a quick-step that had little to do with my running pace. (Let’s just say I was relieved that I picked a running route with open park facilities in operation.)
• I was green with envy that other runners can do the whole thing in just two or three hours. (I still kind of am.)
• I was a little green around the gills (OK, there’s another mixed metaphor. I know turtles don’t have gills. Neither do frogs, for that matter.)
• I’m looking down the pike at my second full marathon (in three weeks), so I am still a little green at the whole marathon thing.
• And I’m a little short on green, right about now. But that’s another matter altogether.
• It’s almost go-time, so let’s give it the green light anyway.

Here’s the basic truth:

Yes, the 20-mile marathon training run is almost always ugly. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

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Sometimes it really is that simple.

On the bright side, although I am not pleased with the time it took me to complete this lengthy jaunt, I still somehow managed to finish comfortably (although not exactly comfortable) within the upcoming marathon’s specified cut-off time. So there’s that.

Let’s hope I can hop along a whole lot faster on race day.

READ: Power Play: 15 reasons runners often run faster in races than training runs

And let the pre-marathon tapering begin!

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