Marathon - A year in the making

Before I get into the Steamboat Marathon race report, here's a clip of the year leading up to this point. I've separated it out, knowing that at some point, it's not as juicy and for the one or two other people that ever read my blog (including my wife Breanna) they might already know the details and/or not care about the journey and want to skip right to the destination.

Past:
I signed up for the Boulder Marathon last year as a way to reach for a goal, something to commit to which would force me to get on a running plan and push myself further than ever before. Up to 2007 my longest run was around 6miles, and that was painful. Fresh out of high school, we ran 5miles 4-5x's a week in the Marine Corps; and I HATED every single minute of it. I never got used to it, I don't remember any kind of "runner's high", all I knew is I had to do it. Fast forward 17years and at some point in early spring 2007, I felt like I needed a bigger challenge. According to the magazines, books, and podcasts, the best way to commit and hold myself accountable to any challenge would be to simply sign up for a race. Looking through training plans, I found a 20wk plan which gave me a couple months to build up my base before the actual plan started. I stuck to it pretty well though some of the mid-week runs were cut short by a mile or 2 and a couple were skipped all-together when I felt too sore. Getting up to the 10mile long runs was so gratifying and I started to "get it", that "runner's high". Hitting 14miles felt so, so good. Then, 16miles laid me out pretty good and 2wks later, the 18miler left me for done. My left knee was in constant pain, the same knee I had ACL surgery on 13yrs ago. What a delicate balance, navigating through the natural pains associated w/ the pounding of running and trying to determine if I should try and get through it or do I shell out $100 for a doctor's visit and have it examined. Days later with a thinner wallet, the doctor determined I had a slight tear in my Patella Tendon. He didn't the think the tear would get any worse but if I laid off for a couple weeks, it would repair itself enough for the pain to go away and I could push on so, Recommended Treatment: either shut-up and deal w/ the pain or lay-off it. That was the answer I needed to opt out of the full marathon and switch to the half. And in hindsight, it was a good move. Having put in multiple 12-plus mile runs, I was very confident w/ a 13mile race; 26.2 miles though, not so confident. History shows it paid off as I far exceeded my goals and felt much more able to move forward w/ continuing my base for a future marathon.