Hi, I'm Scott Reiland, I'm 44 years old and
this is the story of my first marathon Yeah, growing up i was definitely into
sports and playing everything Everything and anything. Summers were
comprised of spending time at sort of a racket club, swim club, and just playing
all day long as my parents worked I got into track. I was a mid-distance runner
800 meters, 400 meter, not really into running super long distances, but you
know I had good speed and competitive at that. And enjoyed track--
it was good I really liked it Probably eight years ago I decided that
I did want to run a marathon and I trained for about three weeks. I ran probably a couple of six mile runs and then I decided to do like a 15 miler (laughs) And I hobbled back from that and I buried a package of thin mints and a half gallon
of milk and sat on the couch the rest of the day next week I got up to the run and I
just couldn't. My knee was killing me and that was the end of my hopes of running
a marathon before I was 40 My son's now a runner in middle school.
Seeing him run got me sort of interested in running again.
My buddy Nick's backyard he sort of cornered me on it one day and
said you know "are you gonna do one?" and so I said yeah I'll do it it's only 26 dollars and 20 cents I'll
sign up and if I bag out of it oh well I chose the FIRST marathon training
program and it's put out by the Furman Institute and you can find
it easily online. It's an18 week program I was actually surprised that it wasn't
running running running running I mean obviously there's a lot of running
involved but for someone like me I think that it worked out well because I
didn't have a huge base of running behind me. I was really starting from
scratch so the program is you're one-day cross-training, one-day run, one day cross-training one-day running. And then you
have one day off during the week You know training you get a lot of time
thinking out on the road it's sort of selfish to be out there running. Well
honestly one of the thoughts in my mind when I was run always you know how can I
turn this into something good and people do this all the time so it's not an
original thought but you know we've got friends here in the neighborhood-- Nick
and Stacy and they have an awesome kid, son, Sebastian and I knew
that they were involved with an organization so I
got online and did a little bit of research and found that it was actually
a very local organization called FRAXA They had really, really great
information on how you could raise money and a program to do so and it was
amazing the response from people I cannot believe just on one
simple email or post on Facebook how generous people are. It was overwhelming
you know it was really, really cool of people who I, you know, know really well
people I don't know all that well it made me feel good about people, you know that they would do something like that I ended up raising just over $4,000 for FRAXA During training I actually felt
very confident I felt really good I always have questions in your head as
you'er training "am I doing this right? am I going about it right?" but
I was really happy with the pace I was running at and feeling
comfortable at some of the paces I was running at. Yep, I got all my, I made a big checklist. I checked it all off Checking it twice? Just, now it's
gonna down to the running right? Two or three days beforehand I started
thinking about nutrition which I probably should have been thinking about
nutrition WAY before this. I read a lot. I read too much for sure. And I totally
changed what I had been doing before my long runs. And I think it hurt me in
the marathon that I read an article that I should eat (and I ought
to find this author's name cause I I'm holding a little bit of a grudge on this
guy) but I it was, I read that I should just eat a baked potato the night before (laughs) and I did. And I was riding to the marathon in the morning with my friend
Greg and he was like "so what'd you do last night? How's it going? What'd you eat? And I said I had a baked potato and I could feel him sort of like look at me like what do you mean you just had a baked potato (laughs) and that wasn't the way that I had been training and it was sort of foolish to go off of
my regiment I guess. I don't have an overly sensitive stomach so I don't know
why just eating a big potato made sense for me. So I over-thought that, but
that was some sort of just nerves I guess doing something that I shouldn't
have been doing because I got really really nervous about making sure that I
did everything the way that it's supposed to be done or the way people do
it and you know... Yeah I kind of failed on that part (laughs) The forecast for the day was 26
at sunrise and then getting up into the low 30s maybe mid or upper 30s
towards the end of the race with a little bit of wind. READY! SET! Wow, I guess we're going, let's go baby (applause) It's definitely a little nerve-racking looking at that weather gone oh it's gonna be cold and
it's gonna be windy. Finishing I guess was goal number one. I felt
like I was gonna finish no matter what Then 4 hours would be the goal number
two and then C was like 3 you know 3:50 ish you know I felt through my
training and the pace I had been run at that I felt that those that that C goal
was actually reachable. So I set a pace plan I felt comfortable
with 8:40 to 8:50 is sort of where I wanted to be and stick with that. The
first mile I thought I was in the pace line with the 3 hr and 45 minute
group. It turns out I was in the pace group for the 4 hr and 45 minute
group and I'm running with the pacer and I'm like man if if this is the pace
we're gonna run to do 3:45 I'm nailing this thing! So then I got a little closer
to a sign and I was like whoa! And so I picked up the pace and so I think I ran
the first one I like nine ten nine twenty something like that As I finished up that first loop I ran
by Greg and he asked me "you a need any food, anything like that?" And I was
like no, no I'm good I'm good wanting "Want any food or anything? Gels or anything?
How you doing?" I didn't plan really ahead because the next time I come around I'm a little over eight miles in and I really wanted to be eating something and
getting some fuel in me at like five, six miles, you know, 40, 45 minutes or something like that and it was my nutrition plan so
I got real nervous you know You head out in another two mile, you
know, two plus miles out there and I was thinking to myself, "boy I could use, I
really could use some food" I had my phone with me so I called Greg
and I said "hey, uh, can you meet me over at the beginning of the trailer park to
bring some food?" I guess that's a nice part about having a loop marathon is
that you do have the opportunity one, if you have anybody
there with you, you see them a couple times and it's some encouragement.
And two, you could sort of leave your food, your water, you know
things that you may need at a central spot and hit it on your loops. Kicking butt, buddy! You're doing great! Keep it up! Will you grab these? I didn't feel great into that second loop. It was work
to stay at the pace I had set as a goal It started to make me a little bit
nervous in all honesty I was like boy I'm not feeling the way I really want to
feel today. In the back of my mind I'm feeling like, I don't know if this is gonna go the
way I want it to. And I just didn't feel exactly right. "Do you want me to run and get you
something, do you need anything?" I have stuff, I'm good. "How you doing? The wind is tough, huh?" Yeah, it picked up. But, uh, whatever. It is what it is. You run through it. By the time that
third loop-- so now we're just about what 12 miles in... something like that
the headwind became really, really noticeable. (announcer) "You are the man right here! Ladies and gentleman. Running for Fragile X. You own this thing, hands up, my brother, c'mon! This is your race! Nice! Did you plan that, Greg? (laughs) I was just ahead of the 3:55
pace group and it Greg said "hey look, you know, you're right ahead of these
guys" and I'm like yeah yeah "You're leading the pace group" What is it, the 3:55? "Uh, yeah, 3:55" And I'm like, great, yeah, yeah, yeah and as we continued on that next-- this third loop, you know, so into 12 you know 14 miles-- that group just
just kept going. I knew in my mind like if I try to stay with them-- I'm
probably not gonna finish. I was getting a little bit freaked out about about
being able to continue with that pace so I knew then at that point after the
third loop you know my goals changed I'm gonna work I'm gonna try to stay
near my nine-minute now okay readjust nine minutes that's fine that
was the mine side of nine minutes is okay nine minutes is okay I think one
thing that's really helpful when you're running and a race everybody it's you
know you've got people who look real steady you know and they're just you
know humming along then you then you kind of you see this person who sort of
looks like you feel and and I there was it there was a guy who you know a couple
of times like I went ahead and then he taught back up and then you we talked
and you know I could tell he was struggling he could tell I was
struggling and we just kept encouraging each other it's not all about that that
the people who are gonna finish you know low threes or sub sub three you know
there are people running a marathon or that that mare that same marathon you
are who are gonna finish an hour and a half before you are and there's people
who are gonna finish an hour and a half after you finish and you're all out
there doing the same distance and encouraging each other and you know
people passing you saying good job you're doing what you know you're doing
great and then trying to return that favor to somebody you're going by when
you see somebody is starting to walk or starting to feel uncomfortable and you
can tell they're really really hard it's a great experience really is and
this is where the loop you know that loop marathon thing you know you you
started to get confused of am I am i gaining on people or they you know a
slower pace than I am at one point I came up behind the five hour pace group
but I was so disoriented at the time that I was I am i running a five hour
pace know is that is that's what's going on i I don't know just blew me away that
people would come on a Sunday when it's 37 degrees outside and windy and freeze
and there's a gazillion things better to be doing along with all the whole other crew that
came out you know Nick and Stacey came and they brought Sebastian with him and
seeing him you know there with his mom and dad having them there meant and
tremendous amount it's kind of you know it's it's sort of overwhelming and they
were naked Stacey were very appreciative of me raising money for Fraxel and
Sebastian is just you know he's the cutest kid in the world he's such a good
kid and it really was nice I you know you know a couple times during the run
just went over to shake his hand get a little little you know get a little
something off of him to help me continue on my legs are getting pretty heavy
through that stretch and you know and they're just up near the finish line is
my mom and my dad and there's Stephanie my wife with the dog and the kids and
the signs and I'm hurtin and I'm just trying to keep a smile on my face and
keep you know keep a good pace going there was piece of pavement a little
little place where pavement had kind of washed out and there was probably an
inch and a half little lip on the on the drive and you know on the on the road
and I just caught my left foot perfectly on that lip and I went down boom here
comes no son described it as the longest fall
he's ever seen in his life and now I have to get back up and as I down to get
back up I get an abdominal cramped at is just like you know my wife thought I was
having a heart attack as I'm grabbing my chest sorta but with it was embarrassing
but you know what I think people sort of looked at me oh wow yeah he's really you
know he's struggling you know and that was a moment and Nick you know big smile
he's got a you know he's got a great smile and he just you know looks he's
like how you doing you know how's it going I just did the word they came to
my mind was humbled you know completely humbled I had a woman run past me who
actually who said oh I know frack soda and on her shirt was like mother of
seven and I might there she goes oh yeah good job keep it up it's like wow yeah
humbled I really felt that I could run a marathon sort of like I could just run a
marathon and now here I am now I've trained for a marathon 18 weeks which is
not an eternity but I you know I really trained I did you know this stuff and
Here I am at 22 miles and I am I'm done you know I'm really really done down the stretch physically my my legs
were were robbed you know they were rocks really they really were tight and
I don't want to you know I don't want to scare any first-time air that anybody
was thinking about doing a first-time marathon but one it's a combination I
think of first time being past that distance of 20 miles to I didn't really
have the right nutrition the night before and I I think you know you know
people were forced feeding me as I was running you know in that last loop but
I'd love to see as you as you see me you know running this last you know 20 you
know 20 2 3 4 5 what I actually look like because it
felt like it was very slow I'm sure it was very slow and the straw that tells
me that it was very slow I'm interested to see if the look of death was upon me
or if I was functioning so as you're probably viewing this right now you got
probably probably a little bit of death going on where I'm checking my watch
it's like 11:02 is the pace and and I'm like but whatever I know all those goals
are out the window and that's alright you know really what I started out to do
was finish a marathon and do a marathon as I'm coming along around the last mile
or so and and half model winds going cut me that's that's a tough stretch the
winds barreling at yeah but but I'm trudging along and Greg and Nick peel
off and now I'm just running by myself for the last like quarter-mile down and
round and there's this big green blow-up thing green Striders finish line and you
can hear the guy in the loudspeaker and he's calling out names and all that
stuff and and people are you know the screaming and yelling and not everybody
for me but I could see all oh my my Posse there and now and there's this
line you know just underneath that that big the big awning there and you need to
go across and bam you know hands up in the air and you know I did it
you know there's very few you know goals that that are difficult goals you know
physically that you can set as you get near 40s like and go out and and do you
know and this is one that anybody can set out and train if set a goal and you
put you know and you follow a program you know you can do it and it's just
that that whole feeling kind of came across as I as I went across the finish
line yeah crossing the finish line it you
know my mom my dad you know I think I you know I hug my kids first Stephanie
my wife it wasn't exactly what I wanted but I did it will I run another marathon yeah yeah if
yeah Thanks stuff for like training and let
me train that type of stuff right yeah that's something I definitely wanted to
get in there and let her know that I appreciate it
thanks for letting me do that
