I’m just gonna put this here.
I recently found the post in which I first wrote about signing up for this marathon. I registered wayyyyyyy back in March, back before I’d ever run any race farther than a 5K. In fact, I think the farthest I’d ever run at that point was 7 or 8 miles.
I had no clue how fast I’d be able to run 26.2 miles (or if I could even physically run them at all), so Las Vegas’s 4:30 time limit almost deterred me from registering.
This is what I wrote back then:
I’m fairly sure I could run the marathon in under 5 hours, and perhaps even under 4:45, but a 4:30 time limit is a lot of pressure.
I’d be lying, though, if I said I didn’t secretly enjoy this extra layer of challenge. I’d love to finish under 4:30 even if there was no time limit, so this just motivates me to train extra hard.
But there was a moment when I was about to register that I considered backing out. Would it be stupid to even attempt a sub-4:30 time? Most people say you shouldn’t have a time goal for your first marathon — just focus on finishing. But I’d like to seize the opportunity to finish and kick some butt, too.
If, after several months of training, I feel like it’s absolutely impossible for me to drag my body across 26.2 miles’ worth of Las Vegas in any time close to 4:30, I can always drop down to the half-marathon.
But telling myself right now that I can’t do it is unacceptable. Quitting before I’ve even started is far more foolish than gunning for a sub-4:30 first marathon. And even if I attempt the marathon, get kicked off the course and earn myself a big, fat DNF — Did Not Finish — I’ll at least be satisfied in knowing that I trained like hell and tried my hardest to do something awesome.
I’ll take Did Not Finish over Did Not Try any day.
Dev on Running 